A 


IN 


THE  LAND  OF  CHINOOK 


OR 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY 


BY 


AL.  J.  NOYES    (Aj.x) 


STATE   PUBLISHING  CO..  HELEN*.  MONT. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1917 

By  A.  J.  NOYES 
In  the  Office  of  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington 


»    «  V  , 


CO 


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INTRODUCTION. 

I  shall  offer  no  excuse  for  giving  this  story  to  the  public. 
Many  will  read  it  with  delight;  while  others  will  cast  it  aside  with 
contempt.  No  man  can  write  for  all  people — that  is,  to  interest 
all  people — successfully. 

While  this  is  a  story  of  Blaine  county,  many  of  the  people 
along  the  valley  of  the  Milk  river  should  find  much  that  will 
prove  of  an  educational  nature,  as  the  material  was  gotten  from 
men  who  have  been  identified  with  the  "Land  of  the  Chinook" 
for  many  years. 

It  is  no  easy  matter  to  gather  the  incidents  and  stories  that  are 
herein  recorded.  It  requires  days  of  travel,  almost  endless  ques- 
tions and  much  research  to  trace  down  a  fact.  What  I  have 
placed  before  you  is  as  truthfully  done  as  possible.  I  find  that 
men  get  an  idea  they  are  right,  and  they  tell,  for  truth,  something 
which  has  been  told  to  them  that  can  not  be  traced  to  fact.  Any 
mistake  that  you  find  here  was  given  as  some  other  man  saw  or 
understood  the  matter. 

Harry  Norton,  an  early-day  newspaper  man  and  prominent 
writer,  said:  "I  know  not  what  the  truth  may  be;  I  give  the 
story  as  'twas  told  to  me." 

I  could  not  conclude  this  without  thanking  those  people  who 
were  kind  enough  to  render  assistance  in  the  work. 

My  first  encouragement  came  from  Thomas  M.  Everett  and 
Earnest  Ekergren.  From  Everett  I  received  very  much  of  his- 
torical value,  as  he  has  been  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  con- 
nected with  this  section  of  Northern  Montana.  Ekergren  looked 
at  it  from  the  standpoint  of  business;  in  fact  that  such  an  attempt 
should  be  encouraged  by  the  people  of  the  county.  To  Jack 
Saddler  I  wish  to  extend  thanks,  as  he  gave  me  many  names  to 
whom  I  have  been  and  from  whom  many  things  of  interest  were 
gotten.  To  each  and  all  of  the  following,  singly  and  collectively, 
I  extend  my  thanks:  "Daddy"  Minugh,  Sam  Goff,  Bill  Bent, 
Billy  Cochran,  Col.  Healey,  Jim  Snell,  "Curley"  Ereaux,  Wm. 
Hart,  Jay  Rhoads,  Jesse  Angstman,  Herbert  Anderson,  Chas.  A. 
Smith,  George  Herendeen,  Raymond  Noyes,  Jack  Brown, 
Bradley,  Father  Eberschweiler,  Bob  Stuart,  "K"  Lowery,  Chas. 
M.  Russell,  "Kid"  Price,  Si  Gamble,  Frank  Dorrity  and  Mrs. 
Moore  for  stenographic  assistance;  James  Dorrity,  Mrs.  James 
Dorrity,  Arthur  Scott,  Min  and  Mrs.  Arthur  Cowan,  Senator 

256668 


Taylor,  Joe  Mosser,  Louie  Shambow,  Billy  Skillen,  Bro.  Van 
Orsdel,  W.  B.  Sands,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  the  first  white  woman  of 
Northern  Montana;  "Daddy"  Marsh,  Chinook  Democrat, 
Burton  of  Harlem  and  A.  M.  Allison  of  Chinook,  for  photos, 
River  Press  of  Benton,  E.  M.  Kenedy,  Vernon  Butler,  Ed 
Broadwater,  and  last,  but  not  least,  my  friend,  Louis  V.  Bogy, 
the  first  man  to  build  a  shack  in  Chinook. 

May  there  be  many  happy  days  in  store  for  each  of  them. 

AL  J.  NOYES  ( Ajax) . 


DEDICATION. 

To  my  son,  Charles  Raymond  Noyes,  who  has  struggled  for 
years  to  make  a  Dry  Farm  in  Northern  Montana  yield  a  fair 
return,  this  little  story  of  the  men  and  conditions  in  "The  Land 
of  the  Chinook"  is  dedicated  by  a  loving  father. 


I— I 

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CHAPTER  I. 

The    First    Inhabitants    of    Blaine    County    Were 
Indians — Grosventres  and  Assinniboines. 

There  is  a  story  handed  down  by  the  Grosventres  (Big 
Bellies)  that  many,  many  moons  ago,  a  time,  in  fact,  so  long  ago 
that  it  is  now  a  myth,  the  Grosventres  and  Arapahoes  came  from 
the  East  and  when  they  arrived  at  the  confluence  of  the  Missouri 
and  Yellowstone  the  Arapahoes  turned  to  the  south  and  the  Gros- 
ventres crossed  the  Missouri  and  followed  its  north  bank.  The 
Grosventres  speak  of  the  Arapahoes  as  their  children  and  it  is  said 
that  their  language  is  somewhat  similar. 

The  Grosventres  claim  to  have  gone  as  far  west  as  the  land 
of  the  Blackfeet.  In  those  days  the  Grosventres  were  quite  a 
powerful  tribe  and  numbered  many  warriors.  Anyway,  it  is  said 
they  made  it  so  disagreeable  for  the  Blackfeet  that  they  were 
persuaded  to  take  up  their  headquarters  along  the  Milk  river. 

Even  though  the  Indians  were  the  first  inhabitants  of  this 
section  they,  by  common  consent,  held  as  neutral  ground  the  land 
in  this  vicinity.  They  traded  at  the  different  posts  that  had  been 
built  for  that  purpose  along  the  Milk  and  Missouri  rivers. 

I  say  neutral  ground — yes — among  themselves,  but  not  to 
the  Sioux  when  they  came  to  this  section  to  hunt  the  buffalo 
which  had  taken  refuge  in  this  country. 

Fort  Browning  was  one  of  the  first  trading  posts  to  be  built 
in  what  was  after  to  become  Blaine  County.  This  post  was  a 
short  distance  below  the  mouth  of  Peoples  creek.  When  Ben 
Phillips  got  his  namesake  cut  off  the  old  site  became  a  part  of 
Phillips  County. 

This  post  was  built  in  1868  and  was  abandoned  about  1872 
for  the  following  reason :  As  above  stated,  the  Sioux  came  in 
large  numbers  to  hunt  the  buffalo,  and  their  presence  made  it  an 
impossibility  for  the  Milk  River  Indians  to  continue  their  trading 
at  Browning.  This  is  proof  that  the  Sioux  were  altogether  too 
powerful  for  the  tribes  of  this  section. 

While  the  post  was  in  operation  the  whites  attempted  to 
farm.  Their  attempt  was  an  abortive  one,  however,  as  all  that 
was  done  was  the  breaking  of  about  fifteen  acres  of  land  which 
was  never  seeded.     This  was,  no  doubt,  the  first  land  that  was 


8  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

ever  plowed  in  Northern  Montana  or  the  Milk  river.  They  did 
put  in  some  potatoes  but  there  was  no  great  success  attending  the 
experiment  as  the  potatoes  they  raised  were  very  small. 

After  it  was  shown  that  Browning  was  no  longer  in  neutral 
ground  the  post  was  abandoned  and  the  building  of  "Old"  Fort 
Belknap  Agency,  or  post,  across  the  river  from  what  is  now  known 
as  Chinook,  the  county  seat  of  our  county,  in  '70  or  '71. 

There  was  probably  not  more  than  fifty  miles  difference  as 
to  distance  between  these  two  posts.  Why  the  Sioux  did  not 
cover  that  distance  and  make  it  disagreeable  for  the  people  located 
there,  has,  to  my  mind,  only  one  explanation.  All  the  other  west- 
ern and  northern  tribes  had  more  or  less  in  common  and  could 
be  relied  upon  to  form  a  coalition  to  protect  themselves  from  the 
powerful  people  to  the  east. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  it  was  these  same  people  who  had 
caused  the  Grosventres  and  Arapahoes  to  leave  the  lands  of  their 
fathers  and  seek  new  hunting  grounds  along  the  waters  of  the 
Upper  Missouri,  in  one  case,  and,  in  the  other,  to  find  more  con- 
genial homes  in  Wyoming  and  Colorado.  But  be  the  reason 
what  it  may,  the  Sioux  did  not  molest  them  very  much  at  Belknap. 
Thus  we  find  that  the  Grosventres  and  Assinniboines  were  the 
first  people  to  inhabit  Blaine  County. 

What  kind  of  people  were  they?  In  fact,  what  kind  of 
people  are  they,  as  they  are  still  quite  a  factor  as  far  as  popula- 
tion is  concerned  in  the  county.  In  the  first  place,  if  I  have  been 
correctly  informed,  they  were  friendly  to  the  whites  and  I  can 
find  but  few  instances  where  they  ever  killed  them.  One  case 
that  was  of  particular  importance  happened  in  the  following  way : 
A  white  trader  came  among  them  at  one  time  and  so  far  forgot 
the  rights  of  the  other  man  that  he  eloped  with  the  young  and 
comely  wife  of  one  of  the  leading  Indians.  The  Indian,  as  soon 
as  he  found  his  wife  missing,  set  out  in  hot  pursuit,  overtook  his 
enemy  and  both  firing  at  the  same  time,  were  killed.  It  is  too 
bad  that  the  Red  Man  had  to  die,  in  this  case. 

It  is  only  natural  that  we  should  like  to  know  something  of 
the  traits  and  peculiarities  of  these  people  whom  we  found  when 
we  came  here  and  who  now  occupy  one  of  the  most  pleasant 
sections  of  our  county,  the  Ft.  Belknap  Reservation.  They 
number  1400  to  1500.  Their  tribal  relations  have  become  more 
or  less  disrupted.  They  no  longer  have  Chiefs  to  direct  them 
as  they  once  did.  (In  the  olden  days  of  tribal  relationship  the 
chief  was  all  powerful.  The  hunters  went  out  and  killed  the 
game,  which  was  brought  in  by  the  women  to  the  tepee  of  the 
head  man  and  he  divided  it  so  that  each  family  had  some  share.) 
The  young  men  of  the  tribe  no  longer  feel  that  they  must  subject 


THE    STORY    OF    BLAINE    COUNTY  9 

themselves  to  the  arbitrary  ruling  of  some  one  whom  they  think 
has  no  more  rights  than  themselves. 

The  father  was  the  owner  of  his  children  and  sold,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  his  daughter  to  the  highest  bidder  or  to  the  one  who  had 
the  most  to  exchange  for  her.  Of  course  there  are  instances 
where  the  father  has  allowed  his  friendship  for  some  man — 
whether  young  or  old — to  take  advantage  of  his  avarice  and  make 
a  present. 

Courtship. 

The  courtship  under  such  conditions  could  never  have  been 
as  is  too  often  depicted  by  the  person  who  wishes  to  throw  the 
mantle  of  romance  around  these  people  as  they  have  done  in  so 
many  instances.  The  young  Red  Man  could  not  have  paid 
much  attention  to  the  girl  by  saying  soft  things  to  her  when  he 
knew  that  the  way  to  her  heart  was  through  the  pocket  of  her 
father.  The  young  Indian  would  see  some  girl  that  he  wished  to 
purchase  and  would  probably  take  a  horse  and  tie  it  near  the 
father's  lodge.  If  the  father  considered  the  horse,  or  whatever 
the  thing  may  have  been,  worth  as  much  to  him  as  the  girl  he 
would  untie  and  take  possession.  But  if  there  was  a  possibility 
of  the  swain  coming  thru  with  something  more  elaborate  the  horse 
was  left,  apparently  unnoticed  until  more  presents,  either  horses 
or  trinkets,  had  accumulated  to  satisfy  the  greed  of  pater.  One 
can  hardly  consider  that  a  courtship  which  has  only  one  side,  but 
there  may  have  been  a  coy  look  in  the  eye  of  the  Indian  maiden 
to  show  the  young  warrior  that  she  would  be  willing  to  follow 
him  to  his  lodge. 

When  the  trade  was  finally  made  she  was  taken  to  the  lodge 
of  her  husband  and  began,  at  once,  the  arduous  duties  that  the 
women  of  the  tribes  were  expected  to  perform.  The  drudgery 
was  their  part  of  the  contract  and  the  bold  husband  was  to  hunt 
the  game  and  protect  the  wife  from  the  bands  of  roving  Indians 
who  would  too  willingly  claim  her  as  a  trophy. 

When  an  Indian  had  married  the  oldest  daughter  of  a  man 
he  could,  if  he  so  desired,  marry  each  and  all  the  daughters  of 
that  man.  Many  of  them  had,  for  wives,  as  many  as  seven  or 
eight  sisters.  When  there  was  more  than  one  wife  in  a  lodge — 
one  of  the  white  men  who  had  married  into  the  Indian  tribe,  told 
me  he  had  seen  as  many  as  nine  wives  in  the  same  lodge — the  fav- 
orite wife  was  the  leader  in  all  the  domestic  duties,  and  her  word 
was  law.  It  might  be  that  she  was  the  oldest,  or  it  might  be 
that  she  was  any  one  of  the  nine  down  to  the  very  last  and  young- 
est, if  she  was  the  favorite  she  laid  out  the  work  and  they  all  fell 
to  and  did  it.     The  tanning  of  hides,  the  drying  of  meat,  the 


10  IN  THE  LAND  OF  CHINOOK 

making  of  pemican,  or  the  clothes,  was  done  in  that  way.  Jeal- 
ousy was  the  exception  and  not  the  rule  in  these  large  families. 

The  husband  had  complete  control  over  the  lives  of  his  wives 
and  no  one  could  gainsay  it.  If  a  woman  proved  untrue  she 
might  be  killed  or  disfigured,  by  having  the  ears  or  nose  cut  off. 
This  was  certainly  a  mark  more  pronounced  than  appeared  on  the 
brow  of  Cain.  Men  have  told  me  that  they  have  seen  Indian 
women  bearing  these  horrible  mutilations  and  going  thru  life  for- 
ever branded  as  untrue  to  their  lords.  One  instance  was  called 
to  the  notice  of  the  writer  as  follows:  A  young  man  fell  in  live 
with  the  youngest  wife  of  an  Indian  of  wealth.  He  fled  with 
her  to  a  friendly  tribe  in  a  land  far  distant,  but  word  came  to 
the  bereaved  husband  that  his  wife  was  there.     He  called  one  of 

his  friends,  a  man  of  parts,  and  said:     "In  the  camp  of  the s 

you  will  find  the  woman  who  left  me  for  a  younger  man.  Go  and 
bring  her  back,  see  that  she  returns  with  you  and  I  will  reimburse 
you  for  your  trouble." 

The  journey  was  made  and  ten  buffalo  ponies — horses  that 
were  particularly  fitted  for  the  chase  of  the  buffalo — was  the 
price  exacted.  She  was  brought  back  to  her  lord  and  master  and 
he  said:  'Take  her  to  her  lodge."  He  asked  the  friend  how 
much  he  had  to  give  for  her  release  and  he  told  him  that  the  price 
was  ten  buffalo  ponies.  Hie  payment  of  the  debt  was  made 
at  once  and  he  went  to  the  lodge  where  the  young  woman  was 
sitting,  with  her  head  bowed  down  with  grief  and  fear,  and  cov- 
ered in  the  folds  of  her  blanket.  She  knew  full  well  the  anger 
that  was  in  the  heart  of  her  husband  and  also  knew  that  her  lot 
would  only  be  what  he  should  desire.  She  had  been  given  to 
this  man,  so  far  as  her  body  and  life  was  concerned,  not  by  any 
law  of  God,  but  by  the  law  of  the  most  selfish  of  all  beings,  man. 
Why  should  man,  and  especially  one  who  was  governed  by  a 
law  which  he  had  made  for  only  selfish  reasons;  one  which 
allowed  him  to  run  almost  as  loose  as  the  beast  of  the  field,  make 
a  law  to  govern  the  woman  and  keep  her  bound  in  subjection? 

I  have  no  time  for  the  fool  man  who  thinks  himself  wiser  than 
the  woman  who  was  given  him  for  the  gratification  of  his  desires 
and  to  help  him  make  this  world  a  place  that  is  really  worth 
living  in  simply  because  she  was  an  after-thought  of  God.  Bosh! 
Man  has  lived  a  million  years  on  this  earth  and  instead  of  raising 
the  standard  of  life  to  the  highest  plain  he  has  raised  Hell  in  his 
race  for  selfish  aims. 

Even  in  America  where  the  woman  is  beginning  to  receive 
some  recognition,  where  she  is  being  given  a  chance  to  help  to 
make  the  world  better,  to  make  it  what  God  must  have  intended 
it  should  become  in  order  that  one  and  all  should  get  the  best 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  11 

that  there  is  in  life  out,  even  here,  man  believes  himself  one 
on  whom  all  the  responsibilities  rest,  and  with  whom  all  wisdom 
and  goodness  lies. 

This  is  a  digression,  maybe,  but  I  believe  it  belongs  right 
where  it  is  found.  That  Indian  woman,  of  tender  age,  given  to  a 
man  old  enough  to  have  been  her  father  and  one  who  had  several 
women  for  the  gratification  of  his  passions,  for  that  is  all  the 
credit  that  can  be  extended  to  one  who  lives  under  such  laws 
and  conditions,  could  not  be  to  blame  if  some  one  nearer  her 
age  had  signified  a  desire  for  her  as  she  was  nothing  but  an 
animal  any  way,  according  to  the  law  of  nature  as  practiced  by 
the  primitive  people. 

And  when  her  owner  stood  over  her  he  was  kind  enough 
to  tell  her  the  price,  in  horses,  she  had  cost  him  for  her  safe 
return  to  his  lodge.  'You  are  back  to  my  lodge  again  and  you 
have  cobt  me  ten  buffalo  ponies,"  and  with  that  remark  he  shot 
her,  not  once,  but  ten  times,  a  shot  for  each  horse. 

And  that  man  that  over-persuaded  her  to  leave  her  husband 
knew  the  Indian  law  and  knew  that  the  woman  would  meet  that 
fate,  yet  he,  for  a  few  ponies,  surrendered  her  to  be  slaughtered. 
This  is  only  one  instance  that  could  be  recorded  of  the  frightful 
price  that  some  Indian  women  have  paid  for  breaking  their  mar- 
riage vows. 

There  is  another  thing  that  seems  strange,  and  that  is  the  dis- 
position to  change  the  conditions  of  the  distribution  of  marriage- 
able people,  that  is,  that  you  will  find  many  old  men  with  young 
wives  and  young  men  with  old  women  for  wives.  The  first  time 
the  writer  was  on  the  reservation  his  attention  was  called  to  the 
matter  but  the  party  who  told  him,  though  one  who  had  lived  for 
years  in  that  section,  could  throw  no  light  on  it.  I  must  admit 
that,  to  the  writer,  that  was  not  the  correct  way  of  making  the  dis- 
tribution. The  why  (?)  was  asked  for  such  a  custom  and  the 
answer  came  from  a  man  who  had  lived  for  forty  years,  more  or 
less,  among  the  Indians,  that  it  was  simple,  when  known.  "There 
is  no  courtship,  at  least  as  we  know  it,  known  among  the  Indians. 
The  woman  is  a  commodity  to  be  purchased  by  the  highest  bidder, 
as  it  were.  The  young  and  tender  girls,  even  of  seven  or  eight, 
might  be  chosen  by  some  old  Indian  who  had  many  wives  already, 
if  he  had  accumulated  ponies  or  property  with  which  to  buy  them, 
while  the  aged  wife  of  the  same  man  might  be  purchased  by 
some  younger  man  who  was  less  fortunate  or  had  not  become 
old  enough  to  have  made  raids  among  his  Indian  neighbors  and 
stolen  the  requisite  number  of  horses  to  give  him  a  start  in  the 
world." 

When  one  takes  this  as  the  reason  he  no  longer  wonders  at 
the  condition  as  he  knows  that  the  man  who  holds  woman  as 


12  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

property  can  not  and  does  not  form  affection  for  her.  I  have 
heard,  though,  of  Indian  men  who  have  been  as  much  in  love 
with  their  wives  as  any  one  of  the  higher  races  in  civilization 
could  possibly  think.  A  gentleman  told  me  of  one  man,  and  one, 
too,  who  was  a  big  chief,  who  would  sit  for  hours  and  comb  the 
hair  of  his  better  half.  This  man  could  hardly  leave  her  to  go 
to  war  or  to  the  chase.     Surely  an  exception. 

Talcum  Powder  in  Big  Bunches. 

Not  many  years  ago  when  a  child  was  born  to  one  of  these 
women  it  was  placed  in  the  baby  sack,  and  as  a  preventative  for 
chafing,  was  packed  in  the  dry  pulverized  dung  of  the  buffalo. 
This  had  been  rubbed  until  it  had  become  an  almost  impalpable 
dust.  These  mothers  were  much  as  the  more  civilized  ones  in 
that  some  of  them  were  very  careful  and  changed  their  little  ones 
as  often  as  necessary  to  keep  them  comfortable,  while  others 
became  careless  and  allowed  the  little  one  to  suffer  agony  because 
of  the  accumulation  of  filth  about  them.  This  dry  dung  is  used 
much  as  the  Talcum  powder  of  the  white  mother,  but  surely  in 
more  generous  quantities. 

I  have  been  told  by  men  who  have  lived  among  them  that 
they  were  more  cleanly  before  the  advent  of  the  whites  than  they 
are  now.  Baths  were  of  frequent  occurrence  and  many  were 
known  to  open  the  ice  and  jump  in.  I  recall  a  story  of  the 
particular  carelessness  of  one  Indian  woman  in  this  part  of  the 
state  as  related  by  Larpenture,  a  man  who  was  at  Ft.  Union 
years  ago  and  who  left  a  very  interesting  story  or  diary  which, 
in  the  hands  of  a  noted  writer,  has  become  of  much  value  to  those 
who  like  to  study  the  conditions  of  men.  He  said:  "It  was 
thought  necessary  by  the  factor  of  the  post  to  go  up  to  the  Milk 
River  country  and  make  a  trade  with  the  Indians  in  their  winter 
camp,  so  another  man  and  myself  were  selected  to  make  the  trip. 
It  was  one  of  those  very  cold  and  disagreeable  winters  when  one 
would  have  been  much  more  comfortable  at  the  fireside  of  a  cabin 
than  out  on  the  prairies  of  the  Northwest  in  the  Indian  camp, 
especially  when  they  were  camped  where  wood  was  hard  to  get. 
We  arrived  at  their  place  of  encampment  and  it  was  so  cold  and 
the  snow  was  so  deep  that  we  could  get  about  but  little.  We 
had  been  invited  to  the  lodge  of  one  of  the  principal  men  and 
was  partaking  of  his  hospitality,  which  had  lasted  for  several  days, 
when  the  man  who  was  with  me  began  to  lose  his  appetite.  I 
was  somewhat  alarmed  at  this  as  he  had  been  able  to  make  a 
full  hand  at  the  table  and  this  sudden  change  bothered  me  not 
a  little  as  I  could  hardly  get  my  stuff  back  to  the  post  if  he 
became  incapacitated.  I  asked  him  what  was  wrong  and  his 
reply  was  somewhat  startling  to  one  with  a  weak  stomach,  as 
he  said:     'I  saw  the  squaw  use  her  butcher  knife  to  remove  the 


THE    STORY   OF  BLAINE   COUNTY  13 

frozen  increment  from  the  nether  garments  of  her  papoose  and, 
without  washing  it,  she  proceeded  to  cut  the  meat  for  our  supper, 
and  from  that  time  till  this  I  have  not  thought  as  much  about  eat- 
ing as  I  have  in  changing  boarding  houses.'  It  is  needless  to  say 
we  soon  wound  up  our  business  and  started  for  the  Fort,  though 
it  was  a  very  serious  matter  at  that  time  of  the  year.' 

There  were  instances  among  the  tribes  where  separations  took 
place  by  mutual  consent.  There  were  also  women  in  some  camps 
who  would  barter  themselves  for  a  price.  These  women  had  been 
the  wives  of  men  who  were  not  blood-thirsty  enough  to  kill  or 
disfigure,  but  allowed  them  to  live  in  the  same  camp  a  prey  to 
the  desires  of  men. 

Indians,  though  they  appear  stoical  to  the  whites,  are  as  full 
of  jokes,  when  left  to  their  own  devices,  as  are  the  whites.  They 
are  fond  of  their  tribal  dances  and  have  built  several  large  dance 
halls  or  houses  on  the  reservation  at  convenient  points.  These 
buildings  are  round.  They  congregate  at  these  places  often.  The 
writer  was  informed  by  a  man  who  has  lived  for  years  among 
them  that  the  dances  of  today  are  too  immoral  for  any  use  and 
are  more  for  the  gratification  of  the  animal  passions  than  for 
social  enjoyment.  That  this  is  a  fact  was  substantiated  by  a 
young  man  who  said  that  it  was  too  true. 

The  advent  of  the  white  man  did  not  benefit  the  Red.  While 
it  is  a  fact  that  many  good  white  men  did  marry  Indian  women 
and  were  true  to  their  family  relations,  there  were  too  many  who 
lived  for  their  personal  gratifications — careless  of  the  final  results. 
When  the  railroad  came  too  many  of  the  "Bucks"  made  the 
mother  of  their  children  a  commodity  to  satisfy  the  lust  of  the 
grader  and  hanger-on. 

The  Indian  would  always  steal  from  his  enemy,  but  seldom 
from  his  tribe.  An  incidence  that  took  place  several  years  ago 
was  related  to  the  writer  by  William  Bent,  who  said:  "Bill 
Hamilton,  the  frontiersman  and  author,  boasted  that  there  was  not 
an  Indian  in  America  who  could  creep  up  to  him  in  the  night 
and  relieve  him  of  any  of  his  possession.  Bill  would  not  sleep 
any  place  except  out  in  the  open.  There  was  a  noted  Indian- 
horse  thief,  "Grosventre  Jerry,"  who  had  never  been  known  to 
miss  anything  he  had  started  for.  The  boys,  knowing  the 
Indian's  almost  uncanny  ability,  wagered  Bill  that  they  knew  a 
man  who  would  get  something  that  he  possessed,  but,  of  course, 
would  not  state  any  definite  time.  Bill  always  laid  down  with 
his  gun  by  his  side,  his  revolver  under  his  head  and  a  famous  bull- 
dog at  his  feet. 

One  night  he  made  his  usual  preparations,  hanging  his  field 
glasses  on  some  bushes  at  the  head  of  his  bed  and  placing  his 
revolver  under  his  head.     Jerry  had  been  told  that  if  Bill  caught 


14  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

him  in  the  act  of  pillage  it  would  be  sure  death.  I  do  not  know 
what  the  incentive  could  have  been  that  would  cause  the  Indian 
to  take  a  chance  such  as  was  put  up  to  him ;  the  trying  to  secure 
something  from  a  sleeping  man,  noted  for  his  caution,  and  espe- 
cially from  the  bulldog  that  would  have  killed  him  if  Bill  hadn't. 
The  next  morning  old  Bill  raised  a  big  disturbance  because  his 
revolver,  from  under  his  head,  and  glasses,  from  off  the  bush,  had 
been  taken,  and  neither  himself,  or  the  dog,  heard  the  approach 
of  the  thief.  Bill  never  again  boasted  of  his  prowess  but  made  a 
particular  friend  of  Jerry,  for  whom  he  would  do  anything." 

I  can  not  take  too  much  of  my  time  in  recounting  the  tales 
of  these  peculiar  people,  nor  in  trying  to  throw  light  on  their 
characteristics  because  this  could  not  be  done  in  one  short  chapter. 
When  everything  is  known  of  them  and,  of  other  races  and  peo- 
ples, then  we  can  say  that  they  are  a  different  people  from  any 
others  whom  we  know.  The  man  who  is  the  student  of  man- 
kind— the  ethnologist — will  tell  you  that  men  are  pretty  much 
alike  the  world  over.  Men  are  only  peculiar  to  us  as  they  differ 
from  us  in  our  mode  of  thinking. 

That  there  can  be  no  sin  where  there  is  no  intent  to  do  evil, 
holds  just  as  good  among  the  various  nations  and  tribes  of  earth 
as  it  does  in  our  own  laws.  The  Indian  woman  who  has  been 
tiaded  and  sold  for  the  price  that  men  would  pay  for  her  had 
nothing  in  her  ethics  that  would  cause  her  to  blush  with  shame. 

The  Indian  who  had  been  taught  to  steal  the  enemies'  horses 
should  certainly  not  be  condemned,  too  severely,  as  we  find  the 
white  men  in  their  warfare  doing  things  much  worse. 

The  Indians  worshiped  the  sun  and  other  things  as  they 
would  worship  rocks  of  peculiar  shapes.  Their  theory  of  the  set- 
tlement, or  the  way  they  happened  to  be  here  was,  as  told  to  me 
by  one  of  the  old  men,  so  Wm.  Bent  says,  as  follows:  "Long 
time  ago  our  people  were  on  a  big  frozen  lake  and  one  of  the 
women  had  a  papoose  on  a  sled.  We  came  to  a  place  where 
there  was  an  elk  horn  protruding  from  the  ice  and  the  baby  wanted 
it  and  in  our  endeavor  to  procure  it  the  ice  broke,  drowning  some 
and  separating  the  party.  Those  who  were  on  this  side  of 
the  hole  came  and  settled  this  country."  Who  knows  but  what 
the  Bering  sea  was  frozen  over  and  that  the  Indian  did  come 
to  this  land  in  that  very  way. 

In  closing  this  chapter  on  these  people,  who  came  here  before 
we  did,  I  want  to  say  that  they  are  among  us,  and  will  become, 
as  soon  as  the  reservation  is  thrown  open,  a  part  of  us.  They 
will  present  problems  for  us  to  solve  and  in  solving  them  let  us 
treat  them  as  men  who  will  have  the  same  rights  that  we  enjoy 
as  they  are  to  be  amenable  to  our  laws. 


Cl'RLEY   EREAUX. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  15 

CHAPTER   II. 
"Squaw-Men." 

If  one  were  to  speak  about  the  men  who  have  taken  Indian 
women,  derisively,  he  would  be  considered  as  anything  but  wise, 
in  some  parts  of  Montana.  The  fact  is  that  some  of  the  best 
men  had  Indian  women  in  the  early  days  when  women  were  at 
a  premium  and  before  the  advent  of  the  pioneer  white  women. 

I  have  met  many  of  these  men  and  have  heard  of  many  more 
and  must  say  that  while  many  of  them  at  this  time  are  touchy 
on  the  subject  and  would  not  like  to  have  their  names  mentioned, 
others  do  not  care,  as  it  is  known  that  they  live  with  these  women 
as  affectionate  husbands  and  fathers.  They  are  married  to  them 
by  the  white  man's  law  and  by  that  same  law  do  they  protect 
them.  The  writer  does  not  believe  that  the  mixing  of  races 
is  the  proper  thing  as  the  law  of  caste  and  congenality  precludes 
such  a  union. 

The  white  man  did  not  woo  the  woman  in  the  prescribed 
white  man's  way  as  that  would  not  do  when  dealing  with  a  race 
that  had  a  different  law  and  that  was  governed  by  different 
methods.  If  they  were  to  secure  the  Indian  woman  who  appeared 
to  be  the  most  attractive  to  them,  they  had  to  pay  the  price  as, 
the  Red  man  did.  This  price  is,  or  was,  not  a  general  one,  but 
depended  probably  as  much  on  the  wealth  and  standing  of  the 
Indian  family  as  it  did  on  the  woman  herself,  that  is  on  her  per- 
sonal charms. 

Some  times  the  price  would  be  a  horse  or  maybe  a  bottle  of 
whiskey  that  would  soon  disappear  into  the  recess  made  for  such 
liquors,  with  the  result  that  as  soon  as  the  effects  of  the  "fire- 
water" had  died  out  the  Brave  would  forget  that  he  had  made 
the  trade  and  trouble  would  occur. 

I  remember  that  one  of  the  men  of  my  acquaintance,  while 
in  a  reminiscent  mood,  told  me  some  of  his  experiences.  He 
said:  "I  have  had  seven  or  eight  Indian  wives  in  my  long  and 
varied  experience  on  the  plains.  Let  me  see,  how  did  I  get  the 
first  one?  Oh,  yes,  I  traded  a  second-hand  cook  stove  for  her; 
and  the  second  one,  rung-in  on  me."  Now  probably  the  Indian 
woman  was  not  unwise  when  she  "rung  in"  as  she  found  that  she 
could  get  plenty  to  eat  for  what  ever  service  she  could  render  her 
master. 

Now  this  man  was  somewhat  of  a  philosopher  and  I  am  going 
to  give  the  result  of  some  of  my  conversations  with  him,  though 
some  of  the  material  recorded  will  be,  in  a  way,  a  repetition. 

'There  was  one  custom  that  was  used  by  the  Indian  woman, 
and  one  of  my  wives  used  it  on  our  children,  and  that  was  the 


16  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

placing  of  the  new  born  child  in  the  baby  sack  in  which  there 
was  a  generous  amount  of  pulverized  horse  or  buffalo  dung. 
The  child  is  swathed  in  this  until  about  one  year  old.  Why  it  is 
done  I  do  not  know  but  believe  it  is  to  prevent  chafing."  How 
is  it  that  one  finds  old  men  with  young  women  as  wives  and  the 
young  men  with  the  old  women  for  wives?  was  asked.  'The 
young  fellows  never  had  property  with  which  to  buy  the  girl  of 
his  age — and  as  marriage  was  simply  to  satisfy  nature — they 
could,  for  a  nominal  price,  secure  the  old  and  cast-off  wife  of 
some  wealthy  tribesman." 

The  Indian  woman  was  the  man's  property  and  for  infidelity, 
his  right,  an  undisputed  one,  was  to  kill  or  disfigure  her.  This, 
no  doubt,  bred  fear  in  her  to  such  an  extent  that  she  was  gen- 
erally, in  the  early  days,  virtuous.  This  may  be  a  poor  defini- 
tion for  the  word  virtue,  but  probably  many  people  are  compelled 
to  lead  virtuous  lives — not  because  of  their  innate  refinement  that 
one  must  respect  in  what  he  knows  to  be  a  good  man  or  woman — 
but  for  the  same  reason  that  the  Indian  woman  remained  true  to 
her  lord  and  master — fear. 

When  the  woman  found  a  new  master — thru  the  cupidity  of 
the  old  one — she  must  assume  her  new  duties  and  proceed  along 
the  new  lines  and  new  places  that  would  be  opened  for  her 
thru  her  new  owner.  Such  a  condition  could  not  have  proved 
conducive  to  the  highest  development  of  virtue. 

The  woman  who  holds  her  passion  in  control,  because  her 
husband  is  a  brute,  who  holds  her  life  in  his  hands,  cannot  arise 
to  the  same  high  plane  as  does  the  one  who  is  governed  by  love 
for  and  a  desire  to  please  her  mate.  The  Indian  woman  was, 
then,  the  slave  that  must  do  the  bidding  of  the  master  no  matter 
what  that  would  be.  She  left  his  camp  fire,  her  children  and 
the  little  things  which  she  had  gathered  about  her,  for  which  she 
must  have  had  some  affection,  to  go  to  the  lodge  of  any  man,  no 
matter  how  repugnant  he  might  be  to  her,  at  the  behest  of  her 

owner.     I  want  to  know  who  in  h 1  ever  gave  any  man  the 

right  to  dominate  woman  ?  Surely  it  must  have  been  a  right  given 
by  the  rules  of  Hades  rather  than  by  a  God  who  is  supposed  to 
love. 

While  there  was  not  and  could  not  be — under  such  condi- 
tion— love  and  respect  that  is  supposed  to  exist  between  the  more 
civilized  mates,  there  was  an  affection  for  the  offspring,  borne 
by  both  parents.  The  father  would  take  delight  in  assisting  the 
son  with  material  wealth  to  help  him  become  a  brave.  They  all 
appeared  to  be  proud  of  relationship  and  wished  to  be  known  as 
such  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation.  There  was  one  peculiar 
custom  which  I  could  never  get  the  reason  for  and  that  was  the 
"shame"  feeling  that  the  mother-in-law  had  for  the  son-in-law. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  17 

She  was  never  supposed  to  see  his  face  after  he  had  courted 
or  purchased  her  daughter.  She  was  never  to  enter  his  lodge 
while  he  was  at  home. 

Several  of  the  stories  that  will  appear  in  this  work  will  be  the 
stories  of  men  who  are  squaw-men.  They  were  the  men  who 
helped,  to  some  extent,  civilize  the  Indian.  And  it  was  from 
them  that  much  of  the  early  story  of  the  Northwest  must  be 
had  if  had  at  all. 

We  find  that  some  of  the  young  men  and  women — half- 
breeds  if  you  will — are  among  the  most  respected  of  the  inhab- 
itants, because  they  behave  themselves  and  try  to  live  upright  and 
decent  lives.  While  it  is  a  fact  that  many  of  the  unions  between 
the  white  men  of  the  plains  and  the  Indian  women  were  only 
matters  of  convenience,  there  were  other  men  who  were  honorable 
enough  to  make  the  union  legal. 

Affection  of  white  men  for  their  Indian  children  was  not  of 
the  same  nature  that  was  felt  by  the  white  father  for  the  white 
child.  It  can  be  better  illustrated  by  the  following  story  told  me 
by  a  cowboy  who  once  rode  the  range  of  the  reservation. 

The  Cowboy's  Story. 


"i 


'I  was  riding  the  range  in  the  vicinity  of  an  Indian  reserva- 
tion and  got  so  I  would  attend  the  dances  given  by  them.  Their 
tribal  dances  were  not  alone  indulged  in  as  they  also  danced  many 
of  the  square  dances  of  the  whites.  I  was  young  and  probably 
foolish.  There  was  one  of  the  young  girls  with  whom  I  struck 
up  an  acquaintance.  Often  I  would  drop  my  bridle  lines  at 
their  cabin  door  and  call  on  her.  She  was,  so  far  as  I  know, 
as  virtuous  as  any  white  girl.  One  evening,  riding  that  way, 
I  got  off  my  horse  and  walked  into  the  cabin.  As  soon  as  I  got 
in  the  whole  family  left.  This  was,  to  me,  a  strange  proceeding 
as  it  had  not  occurred  before.  I  made  my  visit  short.  Again  I 
called  and  the  old  Indian  father  kissed  me  on  the  cheek  and 
then  they  all  left.  I  asked  the  girl  the  meaning  of  this  seeming 
affection — a  thing  that  I  had  not  experienced  before.  She  simply 
said:  'My  folks  like  you,  in  fact  would  be  willing  for  you  to 
become  one  of  the  family.' 

"I  soon  retired  and  went  to  camp.  A  short  time  after  this  I 
was  at  one  of  our  camps  attending  to  my  horse,  when  one  of 
the  men  who  has  been  identified  with  the  Indians  for  years,  came 
in  to  the  stable  and  watched  me  for  a  while.  I  could  see  that 
there  was  something  of  importance  on  his  mind  although  he  hesi- 
tated somewhat  in  finding  an  opportunity  to  express  himself.  At 
last  he  said:  'I  notice  that  you  have  been  frequently,  of  late, 
at  the  Indian  dances.     I  don't  like  it  myself  and  wish  to  tell  you  a 


18  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

story.  I  came  into  this  land  when  I  was  a  young  man.  There 
were  no  other  than  Indian  women.  I  was,  as  you  are,  healthy 
and  passionate,  and  proceeded  to  purchase  a  woman,  then  the 
only  way  of  getting  one.  That  same  Indian  woman  happens  to 
be  the  little  woman  I  am  living  with  now.  Soon  nature  operated 
in  its  usual  way  and  a  little  dark  baby  came  to  our  lodge.  It 
was  then  that  I  pitied  that  woman,  the  mother  of  my  child,  and 
pitied  more,  the  child'.  This  was  my  fault  and  I  a  white  man. 
Well,  others  came  and  I  have  stayed  with  the  woman  that  I  would 
have  wronged  by  leaving  her.  I  have  loved,  not  as  the  white 
father  would  the  child  of  his  loins,  but  my  love  for  them  is  more 
of  pity,  that  I  had  brought  half-castes  into  existence  where  they 
would  always  be  handicapped.  Now,  my  boy,  I  have  told  you 
this  little  story  of  my  life,  hoping  that  you  may  never  be  the 
father  of  any  little  child  you  will  have  to  pity.' 

"To  see  that  little  man  standing,  wrought  by  his  feelings  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  tears  were  welling  up  and  flowing  down 
his  cheeks,  made  an  impression  on  me  of  such  a  nature  that  I 
never  went  again  to  see  the  Indian  maiden  but  lived  to  know  no 
affectionate  pity  for  my  babes  as  they  are  the  babes  of  a  white 
mother." 

That  was  only  one  instance  that  came  to  my  notice  when 
after  material  to  make  a  story.  One  other  which  I  will  relate 
will  give  much  the  same  results.  My  narrator  said:  "I  recall 
that  one  time  I  was  riding  with  a  cowboy  who  was  of  a  good 
family.  I  shall  not  tell  his  name  as  he  is  a  mighty  proud  man 
and  might  take  exceptions  to  anything  of  a  personal  nature.  He 
was  so  proud  that  all  of  his  clothes  had  to  come  from  the  east. 
No  clothing  that  would  be  shipped  for  the  use  of  the  ordinary 
cowboy  was  good  enough  for  this  man  who  had  been  raised  to 
finer  things.  This  day  our  conversation  turned  on  the  men  who 
had  taken  Indian  women.     He  said:     'If  I  had  a  black  bunch 

of  babies  as has  I  would  throw  them  into  the  Milk  river 

the  same  as  I  would  any  other  animal  that  I  wished  to  get  rid  of.' 
To  me  that  did  not  sound  right.  The  sequal  shows  him  in  a 
little  different  light.  He  secured  a  woman  off  the  reservation  and 
took  her  to  his  cabin.  There  was  an  Indian  Agent  who  appeared 
to  have  a  little  higher  idea  of  right  than  those  who  had  been  there 
before,  as  he  issued  an  order  that  white  men  living  with  Indian 
women  must  either  marry  them  or  else  bring  them  back  to  the 
reservation  and  leave  them  alone.  This  was  not  considered  by 
many  of  the  white  men  as  any  business  of  the  Agent.  My  friend 
said  he  would  do  as  he  pleased.  He  did  not  at  once  take  the 
woman  back.  Once  more  the  edict  came  forth  to  either  marry 
the  woman  or  bring  her  back.  There  were  no  uncertain  terms 
and  no  fooling  in  the  demand  made  at  that  time  and  on  that 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  19 

occasion.  He  loaded  up  the  furniture  and  took  her  back  and 
was  going  to  turn  her  adrift.  When  the  time  came  he  found  that 
he,  the  son  of  a  noble  sire,  had  unknowingly  formed  an  affection 
for  this  little  dusky  woman  and  he  could  not  turn  her  loose.  He 
called  in  the  proper  authority  and  wedded  her.  Then  to  his 
cabin  came  little  dark  fellows,  not  one,  but  many,  and  the  Milk 
river  never  became  as  the  Ganges,  the  burial  place  of  unwelcome 
babes,  so  far  as  this  man  was  concerned.  He  lives  on  the  reser- 
vation and  lives  for  those  children  as  few  white  fathers  ever  have 
lived  for  theirs."  These  two  instances  should  be  proof  of  the 
peculiar  affection  that  the  good  white  man  has  for  his  half-breed 
offspring.  They  could  be  multiplied  if  one  would  wish  to  go 
into  the  matter  to  a  more  thorough  extent. 

All  of  the  men  who  came  into  the  Indian  country  were  not 
men  of  high  class  by  any  means.  They  were  wild  and  reckless 
and  were  only  after  personal  gratification.  They  were,  many  of 
them,  the  cause  of  trouble  between  the  whites  and  Indians.  It 
would  not  take  much  of  a  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  prove  that 
a  man  who  had  gone  to  live  with  the  Indians  when  he  was  a 
young  man  could  be  lead  to  become  a  horse  thief.  There  was 
nothing  an  Indian  would  not  attempt  in  the  way  of  securing  a 
horse.  A  large  number  of  them  together  would  make  it  an 
almost  impossibility,  as  they  could  too  readily  be  seen  while  try- 
ing to  get  their  position  where  they  could  get  the  horses  with  the 
least  amount  of  danger  to  themselves.  This  taught  caution,  the 
one  thing  needed  in  doing  this  kind  of  work.  Now  the  white 
man  who  had  no  high  standards  could  fall  into  this  kind  of  work 
and  use  the  Indian  as  a  shield.  That  is,  he  could  cause  the  Indian 
to  be  suspected,  as  he  was  noted  for  his  love  for  someone  else's 
horse.  This  was  known  to  have  caused  much  trouble  in  the 
early  days  of  the  settlement  of  the  wilds  of  North  America. 

It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  go  to  a  man  and  ask  him  anything 
of  a  personal  nature.  Many  of  them  are  like  a  man  of  my 
acquaintance,  a  man  very  prominent  in  the  state  and  one  for 
whom  a  county  was  named,  from  whom  I  tried  to  get  a  story. 
His  reply  was:  "I  only  wish  I  could  forget  some  of  the  things 
that  have  occurred  in  my  life." 

Now  he  is  not  the  only  man  who  wishes  to  forget.  Some  of 
the  squaw-men  of  the  reservation,  so  I  have  been  told,  would 
like  to  forget.  No  one  will  ever  write  the  stirring  and  true 
stories  of  the  early  days,  nor  tell  the  truth  about  the  Rustlers 
who  caused  so  much  trouble  among  the  stockmen.  Many  a  man 
who  would  have  been  hanged,  if  caught,  twenty  years  ago,  is  a 
respected  citizen  whom  no  one  would  ever  suspect  of  having  been 
anything  except  what  he  appears  at  this  time  to  be,  a  perfect 
gentleman. 


20  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

It  can  truthfully  be  said  that  the  men  who  came  to  the  west 
and  took  up  the  roving  life  of  the  Indian  did  not  as  a  general 
thing  accumulate  much  property.  Nor  did  they,  ordinarily, 
benefit  the  Red  Man  by  teaching  him  thrift  and  industry.  The 
early  life  on  the  plains  was  of  such  a  nature  that  men  could  not 
stay  in  any  particular  place  for  any  given  time  as  they  never 
tried  to  cultivate  the  soil  or  build  permanent  habitations. 

The  reason  for  this  is  plain;  they  had  to  follow  the  chase  for 
a  livelihood  and  wherever  the  game  went  they  would  go  if  not 
deterred  by  some  stronger  tribe. 

No  property  that  they  could  get  would  be  anything  but  per- 
sonal which  only  caused  them  more  or  less  anxiety,  as  it  was  a 
menace  rather  than  a  pleasure,  as  other  tribes  and  people  were 
ever  anxious  to  take  it  from  them. 

Their  sustenance  seemed  to  be  a  secured  thing,  as  they  could 
not,  in  the  early  days,  understand  how  it  would  be  possible  to 
destroy  the  numberless  buffalo  that  covered  the  plains  from 
Mexico  to  the  great  lakes  of  Canada. 

I  do  not  believe  the  ordinary  Squaw-man  ever  found  out  much 
of  real  value  concerning  the  people  among  whom  he  went  to  live. 
He  was  not  a  student  of  conditions  nor  did  he  care  to  find  out 
any  of  their  peculiarities,  or  learn  what  they  knew  about  them- 
selves. 

He  worked  along  the  lines  of  least  resistance  and  simply  knew 
the  Indian  as  a  companion  on  whom  he  might  rely  if  he  was 
friendly  and  knew  the  Indian  woman  as  a  matter  of  convenience 
as  she  did  the  work  around  his  tepee  and  gratified  his  physical 
desires. 

And  far  too  many  of  them  were  men  of  no  education  who 
were  but  little  higher  in  the  human  scale  than  the  people  with 
whom  they  cast  their  lots.  Let  us  leave  them  and  not  condemn 
them  as  we  only  "see  according  to  our  lights." 


CHAPTER    III. 

Buffalo  and  Their  Hunters. 

One  who  never  saw  the  buffalo  in  the  times  of  plenty,  when 
they  roamed  the  Great  Plains  in  countless  numbers  from  Texas 
to  the  Canadian  line,  could  not  be  made  to  realize,  by  written 
word,  even  though  it  might  be  penned  by  the  most  gifted  describer 
of  events  and  conditions,  their  immense  numbers  or  the  wonder- 
ful life  and  variety  they  gave  to  those  same  plains. 


■  *■  "zr'X&i^^^^^ 


^s*!BHPi 


Hl'FFAI.o    (»X    TIIH    PLAINS. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  21 

The  Red  Men,  in  all  their  picturesque  costumes,  rode  the 
plains  in  their  chase  for  food  and  robes.  Under  them  these  herds 
increased  to  millions  and  would  have  continued  to  have  been  their 
main  support  for  ages,  as  they  killed  and  saved  all  portions,  and 
only  hunted  when  in  need. 

Many  years  after  the  advent  of  the  whites  the  plains  were 
covered  with  these  herds  because  the  whites  had  not  reckoned 
their  value  as  to  hides.  Many  noted  plainsmen  got  more  or  less 
a  questionable  notoriety  by  their  slaughter  of  these  brutes.  Buffalo 
Bill,  for  instance,  got  his  name  and  much  of  his  fame  in  that  way. 
Bill  was  one  who  must  have  had  more  or  less  talent  in  the  adver- 
tising line  as  he  was  in  a  position  to  make  the  most  of  anything 
of  that  nature  that  came  to  him.  The  fact  that  he  was  advertised 
to  such  an  extent  that  he  became  the  chief  guide  when  the  Grand 
Duke  Alexis  of  Russia  came  to  America  to  hunt,  was  the  Red 
Letter  Day  for  Bill.  Many  a  man  to  whom  Bill  could  not  hold 
a  candle,  so  the  writer  has  been  told  by  the  old  plainsmen  and 
hunters,  have  hardly  been  known  to  the  general  public. 

Cree  Halfbreeds. 

These  people  were  the  natural  offspring  of  hunters,  as  both 
the  father  and  mother  were  of  that  class.  They  were  from 
Canada  and  came  to  the  Milk  River  section  to  hunt,  as  there 
were  not  many  buffalo  as  far  north  as  they  resided.  I  have  an 
idea  that  these  same  people  used  to  hunt  in  North  Dakota  before 
the  buffalo  were  driven  to  the  West  along  the  Missouri. 

Louie  Shambrow,  who  came  to  the  Milk  river  in  1 865  came 
with  these  people.  They  were  men  who  were  used  to  the  hard 
conditions  of  the  plains  and  were  always  willing  to  fight  the 
Indians,  if  necessary,  in  their  struggle  for  existence.  They  were 
a  happy  people  who  found  enjoyment  as  they  passed.  One  of 
the  first  things  they  would  do  on  arriving  in  camp  would  be  to 
put  up  the  tent  or  lodge  in  which  they  held  their  dances.  They 
had  a  floor  with  them.  The  one  thing  that  the  priest  could  not 
do  was  stop  their  dance.  Many  of  these  people  were  so  fair 
that  they  would  be  taken  for  whites.  They  had  light  hair  and 
blue  eyes.  Shambrow  was  for  years  thought  to  be  one  of  them, 
as  he  was  with  them  when  he  was  only  twelve  years  of  age.  Not 
many  of  them  spoke  English,  so  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  Louie  to  become 
interpreter. 

The  conditions  along  the  Milk  river  were  well  adapted  to  the 
life  they  were  to  lead  as  the  buffalo  came  to  know  the  country 
as  grazing  ground.  These  people  built  cabins  in  several  places 
along  the  Milk  River  valley  and  lived  in  settlements  so  that  they 


22  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

could  be  strong  enough  to  protect  themselves  from  Indians,  and 
also  for  their  social  life. 

These  people  were  too  near  of  the  Indian  nature  to  have 
exterminated  the  buffalo.  It  required  the  man  who  was  a  hunter 
of  hides  for  the  money  that  was  in  it  that  would  soon  destroy  the 
last  vestige  of  them.  Then,  too,  it  took  the  big  trading  companies 
to  encourage  even  these  men  before  the  work  was  fully  accom- 
plished. When  the  time  came  for  their  extermination  hunters  did 
the  work  so  rapidly  that  it  was  done  so  suddenly  that  all  the 
frontiersmen  were  astonished.  One  of  the  men  who  had  been  on 
the  plains  for  fifty  years  said  that  the  hunter  would  begin  in 
the  north  and  as  the  great  herds  began  to  move  south  they  would 
send  telegrams  to  others  that  the  herds  were  coming  and  in  that 
way  they  were  met  and  slaughtered.  Noted  shots  would  employ 
men  to  do  the  skinning  and  they  would  do  the  killing. 

V.  Bogy  says  that  one  of  the  noted  hunters  of  those  days 
was  Brisbeau,  who  at  this  time  is  living  on  the  reservation.  Bogy 
said  that  this  man  had  killed  as  many  as  300  head  at  one  stand. 
They  were  about  all  killed  from  '82  to  '85. 

The  bones  were  gathered  in  piles  and  the  railroad  did  a 
thriving  business  hauling  them  to  the  Eastern  market.  Pages 
could  be  filled  with  the  stories  of  the  days  when  the  men  were 
killing  the  buffalo.  These  men  came  from  all  over  the  West 
and  Southwest.  Some  will  say  that  many  of  the  buffalo  hunters 
became,  later,  the  cattle  rustlers  as  they  got  so  they  could  see  but 
little  difference  between  the  Indian's  cattle  (the  buffalo)  and 
the  white  man's. 

Charlie  Russell,  the  Cowboy  Artist,  once  said  to  the  writer: 
'You  can't  blame  the  Indian  very  much  for  being  sore  at  the 
whites  as  they  killed  what  nature  had  provided  for  their  food  and 
did  it  wantonly." 

It  is  true  that  General  Miles  had  said  that  the  only  way  to 
subdue  the  Indian  was  to  kill  the  buffalo  so  they  could  not  sustain 
themselves.  The  American  Indian  had  been  a  problem  ever  since 
the  first  white  men  landed  on  their  soil.  Those  first  white  men 
found  a  race  that  were  not  vicious.  At  least  the  overt  act  was 
on  the  part  of  the  race  that  should  have  been  the  best  and  should 
have  used  its  education  and  religion  to  uplift  and  enlighten.  They 
had  no  thought  other  than  to  make  a  dollar,  with  the  result  that 
the  Indian  was  taken  and  sold  into  slavery  in  foreign  lands.  Noth- 
ing could  be  more  cruel  than  the  separation  of  families  in  such 
a  way.  It  was  done  in  a  way  that  taught  the  Red  Man  that  the 
white  one  had  no  kindly  feeling  for  them.  They  could  not  see 
that  all  the  whites  were  not  of  the  same  class  as  they  could  only 
judge  those  whom  they  first  met  and  these  certainly  had  treated 
them  in  a  most  contemptible  manner. 


MRS.    LINCOLN'. 
We  came  here  in   1S78  on   the   steamboat    Benton,    having   taken   fourteen 
days  to  come  from  Bismarck  to  Fort  Benton.     Landing  there  we  went  overland 
to  Fort  Belknap  and  found  one  man  there,  Tom  oTIanlon,  acting  as  post  trader. 

This  reservation  had  been  established  several  years  before,  but  had  been 
abandoned  and  my  husband.  Major  W.  L.  Lincoln,  was  the  first  agent  upon  its 
re-establishment.  He  had  supervision  over  about  two  thousand  Indians.  Gros 
Ventres  and  Assinniboines.  Mr.  Lincoln  served  two  terms,  a  period  of  eight 
years,  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  reservation  was  opened  to  the  railroad  and 
the  Indians  were  moved  to  Harlem. 

My  son-in-law.  C.  G.  Fish,  was  bookkeeper  and  his  daughter  Nellie,  now 
Mrs.  Robt.  Cline  of  Highwood,  Mont.,  was  the  first  white  child  born  there. 

Mrs.  W.  L.  Lincola. 

Note  from  caption  :  Mrs.  Lincoln,  first  white  woman  to  live  in  the  Milk 
River   Valley. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  23 

The  Indian  went  to  the  plains  of  the  far  west  and  in  that  land 
thought  for  a  time  they  would  be  safe,  but  the  cupidity  of  the 
white  race  brought  them  also  and  they  overran  that,  too,  and 
crowned  all  their  efforts  by  the  utter  extinction  of  the  supply  that 
nature  had  furnished  for  the  Indian's  sustenance. 

There  are  two  sides  of  this  question  but  the  settlement  of  it  was 
on  the  side  of  the  majority.  Whether  this  was  right  or  wrong 
must  be  decided  by  that  ONE  who  made  us  all  and  who  may 
some  time  judge. 

The  American  Buffalo  or  Bison  was  a  wonderful  animal  that 
lived  in  vast  herds.  Men  have  seen  them  in  such  great  numbers 
that  no  one  who  had  no  real  experience  in  the  early  days  could 
believe  that  the  stories  told  could  possibly  have  any  virtue. 

In  the  early  days  when  the  steamboats  were  used  as  a  means 
of  transportation  on  the  Missouri,  they  had  to  be  stopped  while 
the  herds  were  swimming  the  stream.  One  man  told  me  that  on 
one  of  his  trips  to  a  trading  post  on  the  Milk  river  he  had  to  take 
men  and  drive  the  buffalo  out  of  the  way  so  the  ox  teams  could 
get  through  as  they  were  so  thick  the  teams  could  not,  with 
safety,  make  their  way. 

The  buffalo  hunter  and  wolfer  were  peculiar  men  who  were 
used  to  many  hardships  and  who  would  go  for  months  without 
any  other  food  than  that  killed  from  day  to  day  or  the  jerked 
or  dried  meat  of  some  other  killing.  One  man  told  me  that  he 
lived  for  eight  months  on  meat  alone  and  for  three  months  of 
that  time  without  salt. 

The  hide  was  worth  about  five  dollars  delivered  along  the 
banks  of  streams  that  one  could  navigate  in  any  kind  of  a  boat 
and  especially  on  such  streams  as  the  Missouri  and  Yellowstone. 

The  Government  did  not  try  to  stop  the  slaughter  but  rather 
encouraged  it.  It  does  not  appear  to  me  that  there  could  have 
been  any  romance  attached  to  work  of  that  nature.  The  Indian 
had  been  subdued  and  was  no  longer  a  menace.  If  he  had  not 
been  in  the  minority  the  buffalo  would  still  roam  the  broad  plains 
of  this  countrv  in  untold  numbers. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

First  Settlement  by  the  Whites. 

"I  will  give  the  story  as  it  was  told  to  me,  not  knowing  what 
the  truth  may  be,"  as  Harry  Norton,  a  once  well-known  News- 
paper man  said,  when  writing  of  the  early  days  and  the  tales  that 
came  to  his  ear. 


24  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

There  are  three  ways  in  which  history  can  be  obtained:  Live 
it,  hunt  the  written  records  or  get  the  stories  of  those  who  have 
lived  it. 

Living  at  this  time  in  Blaine  county  is  a  man  on  whom  one 
may  rely  for  facts  concerning  the  time  which  he  has  spent  in 
Montana,  "Billy"  Cochran  is  well  known  to  all  of  the  old-timers 
on  the  Milk  river  and  the  writer  will  give  a  statement  made  by 
him. 

The  first  settlement  in  what  was  afterward  to  become  Blaine 
couniy  was  on  Rock  creek  in  the  Little  Rockies  one  mile  east  of 
where  Landusky  is  now.  Wm.  Cochran,  John  Dillon,  O.  B. 
Nevins  and  Adam  Armstrong  left  Fort  Benton  about  the  first  of 
October,  1865,  in  a  mackinaw  with  goods  with  which  to  trade 
with  the  Indians.  On  the  15  th  day  of  that  month  they  found 
some  Indians  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek  from  whom  they  bought 
some  horses.  These  were  the  Gros  Ventres  and  River  Crows. 
The  expectation  was  to  trade  with  these  Indians  at  the  mouth  of 
the  creek.  The  natives,  however,  said  that  the  Sioux  were  too 
troublesome  as  they  would  come  as  soon  as  the  river  was  frozen 
over  and  make  it  so  disagreeable  that  there  would  be  no  enjoy- 
ment in  trying  to  stay  in  that  vicinity  and  the  better  thing  would 
be  for  all  of  them  to  move  to  the  mountains.  We  took  their 
advice  and  went  up  the  creek  and  built  four  log  cabins.  Two 
of  these  were  on  each  side  of  the  enclosure  and  formed  two  sides 
of  it  while  the  stockade  formed  the  other  two. 

There  were  about  500  lodges  and  probably  an  average  of 
five  people  to  the  lodge.  We  had  no  name  for  the  post.  There 
were  but  few  white  men  in  the  country  that  winter.  There  may 
have  been  fifteen.  I  recall  some  of  them:  George  Boyd,  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell,  at  Holly;  "Old  Man"  Reavis, 
Jake  Leader  (killed  in  69  at  the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell)  ; 
Cyprenne  Matt  and  Jim  Wells.  Dave  Pease  (who  helped  to 
build  Ft.  Holly)  was  at  Ft.  Union.  We  were  in  the  Rockies 
about  four  months  trading  for  robes  and  had  no  trouble.  Prior 
to  this  time  men  may  have  made  a  winter  camp  in  this  section  as 
it  is  known  that  the  hunters  and  trappers  from  Ft.  Union  would 
often  pass  through  it  in  their  quest  for  game  and  pelts. 

We  know,  also,  that  the  Cree  half-breeds  were  in  the  habit 
of  coming  to  the  Milk  river  to  hunt  and  that  they  built  cabins  and 
had  several  settlements  up  and  down  the  valley.  We  find  that 
about  1868  Ft.  Browning  was  built  down  below  the  mouth  of 
Peoples  creek  in  what  is  now  Phillips  county.  When  the  Sioux 
came  and  made  it  unsafe  for  the  other  Indians  to  trade  at 
Browning  it  was  abandoned  and  Old  Belknap  was  constructed 
in  the  early  seventies  just  across  the  river  from  Chinook. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  25 

It  was  hardly  safe  yet  for  men  who  were  not  living  with  the 
Indians  to  begin  to  settle  as  there  was  still  a  chance  to  lose  one's 
scalp.  In  '79,  after  the  Nez  Perce  war  was  a  thing  of  the  past, 
the  government  came  to  the  conclusion  to  build  Fort  Assinniboine. 
That  post  gave  some  security  to  the  people,  yet,  once  in  a  while 
it  seemed  necessary  for  the  soldiers  to  go  out  and  hunt  Indians.* 

There  are  men  living  in  the  valley  today  who  will  tell  you 
that  the  Fort  was  really  of  more  benefit  to  the  contractors  who 
supplied  the  place  with  various  articles  than  it  was  to  the  settler. 

If  one  could  believe  all  that  is  told  of  these  days  one  could  see 
without  any  glasses  the  reason  why  some  of  the  men  now  at  the 
bead  of  affairs  in  Montana  became  so  wealthy. 

It  is  said  that  one  load  of  hay  would  be  hauled  and  delivered 
so  often  that  the  teamster  would  need  stop  and  grease  his  wagon 
to  keep  the  wheels  from  locking.  A  prominent  citizen  of  the 
Milk  river  told  me  he  had  never  attempted  to  get  a  hay  con- 
tract while  the  Fort  was  in  operation  for  the  reason  that  no  man 
could  expect  to  get  his  stuff  accepted  unless  he  first  gave  the 
man  in  charge  of  those  commodities  a  present. 

In  those  early  days  when  the  Government  had  sent  out  men 
to  fill  positions  of  responsibility  too  many  of  them  fell  through 
the  wiles  of  the  tempter  and  were  ruined  themselves  though  the 
men,  whom  they  had  made  rich,  escaped.  A  man  told  me  that 
one  of  these  officers  had  been  apprehended  and  sent  to  the  peni- 
tentiary, here  he  had  remained  for  five  years  but  that  the  man 
who  had  been  benefited  was  a  pretty  good  fellow  for  "I  saw  a 
check  for  fifty  thousand  dollars  which  he  had  gotten  one  of  his 
clerks  to  send  the  man."  Now  that  man,  who  received  the  bene- 
fit, is  a  much  respected  citizen  and  a  banker  as  well  as  merchant 
in  this  state  today. 

Though  men  came  and  went  in  the  early  days  one  could 
hardly  say  that  there  was  any  real  settlement  on  the  Milk  river 
until  the  Great  Northern  Railroad  was  finished,  or  until  it  came 
into  that  section.  The  railroad  came  in  1  887  and  people  began 
to  settle  along  the  river.  At  that  time,  the  fact  is,  the  whole 
section  was  an  Indian  reservation  and  one  could  not  settle  with 
any  chance  of  holding  a  claim.  The  Reservation  was  thrown 
open,  or  at  least  a  part  of  it  was,  on  May  1  st,  1 888. 

At  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  reservation  the  Great  North- 
ern advertised  the  Milk  River  valley  as  the  only  portion  of  Mon- 
tana that  could  be  farmed  without  irrigation  and  the  valley  was 
settled  up,  especially  around  Chinook,  and  almost  every  1 60  acres 
was  taken  up  and  farmed  without  irrigation.  In  the  fall  of  1 889 
a  man  by  the  name  of  T.  C.  Burns  came  to  Chinook  from  the 
Yellowstone  where  he  had  practiced  irrigation.  He  and  his 
family  filed  on  about  1800  acres  of  land  under  the  old  desert  land 


26  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

act  which  granted  a  section  to  each  applicant  and  permitted  a 
homestead  in  addition  to  it.  He  started  in  the  fall  of  1889  to 
build  a  canal  from  the  Milk  river  to  irrigate  his  claims.  He 
worked  on  his  ditches  till  1 890  when  a  suit  was  brought  against 
him  by  the  Great  Northern  Railway,  an  injunction  secured  by 
the  company,  stopping  him  from  building  the  canal.  The  Com- 
pany claimed  that  in  1888  they  had  filed  a  water  right  covering 
all  the  waters  of  the  Milk  river  for  tank  purposes  for  its  engines, 
but  the  real  reason  given  by  the  officials  of  the  road  was  that 
the  building  of  the  canal  would  put  a  damper  upon  the  immigra- 
tion from  the  east  as  it  would  lead  the  settlers  to  believe  that  irri- 
gation was  necessary  and  having  no  experience  with  that  kind 
of  farming  they  would  refuse  to  settle  the  country.  The  case 
dragged  through  the  courts  for  several  years  and  it  was  finally 
decided  in  favor  of  Burns  and  the  injunction  dismissed. 

In  the  meantime  a  succession  of  four  or  five  years  had  caused 
the  most  of  the  farmers  to  leave  the  valley  as  dry  land  farming 
in  the  valley  had  proved  a  failure.  The  only  people  left  in  the 
valley,  except  a  few  stockmen,  were  the  settlers  engaged  in  the 
construction  of  irrigation  canals  at  Chinook  and  Harlem. 

The  first  irrigated  ranch  in  what  is  now  Blaine  county  is  the 
one  on  which  Thomas  M.  Everett  is  now  living.  Mr.  Everett 
owned  it  at  that  time  also.  His  land  was  flooded  and  a  fine  crop 
of  hay  raised  the  first  year. 

In  1889  there  was  a  large  crop  raised  from  the  overflow  of 
1 888.  In  1 900  a  ditch  was  constructed  from  Parallel  Creek,t 
now  called  Thirty  Mile.  This  ditch  was  built  by  Thos.  M. 
Everett,  J.  M.  Everett  and  James  E.  Fox,  from  a  point  near 
the  James  E.  Fox  homestead  buildings. 

The  Harlem  canal,  from  Milk  river,  was  started  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1891  and  the  first  water  was  turned  on  the  land  from 
that  canal  in  1895.  The  Paradise  Valley  Canal  was  started 
about  the  same  time  as  the  Harlem  canal  to  irrigate  the  south  side 
of  the  river  west  of  Harlem. 

The  lands  along  the  Milk  river  were  very  smooth  but  were 
generally  covered  with  sage  brush  and  needed  cleaning  before  the 
hay  could  be  cut. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  cattle  men  began  to  fetch  their 
stock,  as  has  been  said  in  another  place,  they  were  compelled  to 
move  from  the  older  settled  sections  of  the  Territory  to  the  lands 
north  of  the  Missouri  as  the  grass  was  getting  thin  in  the  older 
ones. 

This  caused  the  streams  and  watering  holes  to  be  filed  on 
as  they  were  the  only  parts  of  the  country  the  stockman  thought 
had  any  value.  It  had  been  proven  by  several  futile  attempts 
that  the  dry  lands  would  not  raise  a  crop  and  if  such  should  prove 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  27 

the  case  then  the  water  holes  would  always  be  very  valuable,  as 
it  was  safe  to  say  there  would  be  all  the  grass  needed  by  them 
for  years  to  come.  But,  then,  they  had  not  taken  into  considera- 
tion that  the  sheep  would  come  and  make  the  stockman  so  much 
trouble  that  he,  too,  would  be  required  to  stop  his  range  busi- 
ness and  go  into  something  else. 

The  people  who  lived  on  the  Milk  river  in  those  days  could 
put  their  land  under  the  ditch  and  protect  their  stock  from  the 
hard  winters,  or  they  could  get  rid  of  them  and  sell  their  hay 
to  the  west,  as  the  kind  of  hay  raised,  Blue  Joint,  was  much  in 
demand,  as  horse  hay,  by  people  as  far  removed  as  the  coast. 

There  had  to  be  trading  points  on  the  railroad,  so  Chinook  was 
started  in  1888,  that  is,  there  was  a  station  about  three-fourths 
of  a  mile  up  toward  Havre  from  what  is  now  the  station,  that  was 
known  as  Dawes. 

When  the  railroad  was  being  built  into  the  valley  Tom 
O'Hanlon  was  running  the  store  at  Belknap.  Louis  V.  Bogy 
was  working  with  him  and  they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  there 
must  be  a  town  some  place  near  the  Agency.  Tom  had  made 
up  his  mind  that  the  proper  place  would  be  on  the  creek  some 
place  but  "V."  thought  that  the  "little  hill"  would  be  much  the 
better  place  as  the  spring  had  shown  that  water  would  cover 
the  point  which  Tom  had  selected.  It  would  be  useless  to  try 
and  get  a  patent  to  the  land  as  it  would  be  out  of  the  question 
to  homestead,  as  that  would  require  too  long,  and  the  preemption 
law  was  not  in  effect  on  the  Milk  river.  It  was  thought  wise  to 
have  Bogy  build  a  cabin  and  squat  on  the  place  picked  out  and 
then  when  the  reservation  was  thrown  open  they  would  have  the 
first  right.  So  he  built  a  little  cabin  near  where  George  Cowan's 
barn  is  now. 

Bogy  and  O'Hanlon  had  no  idea  of  making  any  money  out 
of  the  town  site  but  were  to  turn  it  over  to  a  town  site  company 
which  was  composed  of  a  Press  Association  that  was  financed 
by  several  farm  papers  of  the  east.  These  people  took  it  over 
but  did  not  get  a  title,  so  the  Government  had  to  reserve  it  for  a 
town  site  and  the  money  from  the  sale  of  lots  went  into  the 
school  district. 

The  name  Chinook  was  chosen  by  D.  R.  McGinnis,  one  of 
the  newspaper  men,  so  L.  V.  Bogy  told  the  writer,  and  he 
should  know. 

Rideout  had  the  first  hotel.  The  Chinook  House;  Wynkoop, 
the  Pioneer  Restaurant;  Kingsbury,  the  Townsite  King;  Kelsey, 
the  Feed  and  Grainman;  Coombs,  the  General  Store;  "Uncle 
Johnnie  Lewis"  with  his  stock  of  drugs;  Lee  Cumm,  the  China- 
man, built  the  Montana  hotel;  Vincent,  with  his  brick  kiln;  A. 
H.  Resor  was  the  first  blacksmith  and  then  came  Ballou,  Elliott 


28  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

of  "The  Bank,"  the  unfermented  juice  man;  Letcher,  the  barber; 
Maney,  the  choice  brandy  man;  Rainbolt  Bros.,  furniture  house; 
Raymond  of  the  Boston  store;  Judge  Stevens,  a  notary  public  and 
first  railroad  agent. 

T.  C.  Power  and  Brother  same  as  Tom  O'Hanlon;  Barton 
and  Stam,  heavy  hardware;  Lohman  and  Bartzen,  general  store; 
Chas.  A.  Hanson,  livery  stable. 

The  foremost  building  of  that  day  was  the  brick  built  by 
Thos.  O'Hanlon,  1889.  Soon  the  old  town  hall  was  built  by 
popular  subscription,  and  used  for  school  and  church  by  the  little 
band  of  pioneer  educators  and  Christians  of  all  denominations 
numbering  less  than  a  score. 

Miss  Lizzie  Curtis  was  the  first  teacher,  and  the  trustees  of 
the  district  which  was  the  tenth  in  old  Chouteau,  were  Thomas 
O'Hanlon,  A.  H.  Resor  and  W.  N.  Woolridge.  In  1893  they 
built  the  first  brick  school  house  with  two  class  rooms  and  a  reci- 
tation room.  Prof.  J.  S.  Whitehead  was  first  principal.  In  '99 
the  W.  H.  Duke  building  was  erected;  later,  1900,  the  Lohman 
block  and  the  Bogy  building;  in  1901  the  Chinook  hotel. 

Dr.  Chas.  F.  Hopkins  was  the  first  physician,  he  came  in 
1890. 

Akin  to  these  pioneers,  who  have  laid  the  foundations  of  a 
strong  and  vigorous  Commonwealth,  are  Wm.  Duke,  who 
embarked  in  business  here  in  1898;  Julius  Lehfeldt,  who  pur- 
chased the  A.  S.  Lohman  business  in  1 898 ;  Attorney  W.  B. 
Sands,  who  hung  his  shingle  out  in  1895.  Frank  Boyle,  the 
clothier;  Marvin  P.  Jones,  C.  M.  Williams,  A.  Perkins,  John 
C.  Duff,  G.  E.  Fuller,  Samuel  Houston,  Thomas  Dowen,  E.  S. 
Sweet,  John  M.  Montgomery,  J.  S.  McKibbin,  Ed.  Price,  A. 
W.  Ziebarth,  "Daddy"  Marsh  and  Frank  O'Neal,  the  genial 
landlords  of  the  Montana  hotel;  J.  F.  Williams  and  a  long  list 
of  others  have  helped  to  make  this  a  city  of  homes  and  one  of 
the  nicest  places  of  its  size  to  be  found  any  where. 

In  1 899  Chinook  was  incorporated  and  A.  S.  Lohman  was 
elected  mayor;  L.  V.  Bogy,  J.  W.  Stam,  Dr.  C.  F.  Hopkins  and 
M.  P.  Jones  aldermen,  with  Samuel  Houston  magistrate  and  A. 
W.  Ziebarth  marshal. 

When  the  new  county  of  Blaine  was  organized  the  city  of 
Chinook  had  "pull"  enough  to  become  the  County  Seat.  A 
beautiful  court  house  was  erected  that  would  be  a  credit  to  a  city 
several  years  older  and  for  a  county  much  richer.  The  people 
of  Chinook  have  gone  about  beautifying  their  city  until  today  it 
is  one  of  the  best  built  towns  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state 
and  bids  fair  to  grow  for  years  to  come.  Its  people  are  wide- 
awake and  are  ones  to  whom  we  kindly  express  pleasure  for  having 
received  so  many  favors. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  29 

The  little  city  of  Harlem  had  its  first  start  in  1 889.  As  it 
was  close  to  the  Agency  and  only  a  short  distance  from  the  Fort 
Belknap  Indian  Reservation  there  was  some  probability  that  it 
would  make  a  good  point.  The  first  house  was  built  by  Thos. 
M.  Everett;  first  saloon  by  Al  Cecil;  first  store,  Chas.  A. 
Smith;  first  hotel,  Manning  Bros.;  first  bank  was  opened  in  1906 
by  eight  men,  Thos.  M.  Everett,  Walter  French,  E.  M.  Kennedy, 
Chas.  Owens,  who  was  cashier  before  Mr.  Hatch;  Carver,  who 
used  to  be  president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Chinook; 
Sprinkle  Bros,  and  Major  Will  Logan. 

Steven  Carver  had  organized  a  bank  in  Chinook.  The  first 
white  woman  in  Harlem  was  Mrs.  John  Manning.  She  came  in 
the  fall  of  1 889.  The  first  white  woman  in  this  vicinity  was  Mrs. 
J.  A.  Wise,  who  came  in  1888  and  settled  on  the  little  knoll 
where  Dr.  Williams  has  his  house  now.  The  first  wedding  was 
Al  Cecil,  who  married  a  niece  of  Louis  Riel.  Their  daughter 
was  the  first  white  girl  born  in  Harlem  and  is  now  the  wife  of 
Ole  Nelson. 

Right  here  will  be  a  good  place  to  give  some  of  the  experi- 
ences of  the  man  who  was  the  first  merchant  in  the  town,  Charles 
A.  Smith.  In  the  fall  of  1888  I  was  at  Rockey  Point  and 
Johnnie  Lee  insisted  that  I  stay  with  him  that  winter  and  hunt 
wolves.  John  Lee,  "Dutch"  Louie  and  myself  started  for  Valen- 
tine Spring  with  traps  and  ammunition  to  catch  wolves.  We  got 
there  and  camped  near  a  cabin,  intending  to  stay  all  winter.  Next 
day  we  got  some  deer,  then  John  started  back. 

I  noticed  the  knuckle  on  my  hand  was  sore,  the  second  day  it 
got  worse  and  the  third  I  was  down  with  inflammatory  rheuma- 
tism. I  had  to  have  help  so  Louie  put  me  in  the  cabin  and  started 
for  the  Point.  I  had  to  make  my  bed  on  the  ground  and  never 
left  it  till  he  got  back.  That  night  was  the  most  terrible  one  I 
have  ever  experienced  because  that  old  chimney  was  full  of 
mountain  rats.  As  soon  as  it  got  dark  they  came  and  ran  all  over 
me  and  even  ate  the  hair  off  of  my  head  and  I  couldn't  do  a  thing 
but  yell  at  them  as  I  could  not  move  a  hand  in  self-protection.  I 
got  a  little  sleep  in  the  day  time  and  Louie  came  by  night.  I 
hadn't  had  a  thing  to  eat  for  two  days. 

In  the  morning  he  put  me  in  the  wagon  and  took  me  forty 
miles.  How  I  suffered.  I  got  to  camp  and  for  six  weeks  I  never 
moved  hand  or  foot.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  M.  Marsh,  now  of 
Chinook,  took  care  of  me. 

In  the  spring  the  Curry  boys  got  me,  I  was  stranded,  hadn't 
a  cent  on  earth,  and  took  me  to  the  Curry  ranch.  I  stayed  with 
ihem  for  a  couple  of  weeks  and  told  the  boys  I  was  going  to 
pull  out  for  the  St.  Paul's  Mission  to  work.     I  took  my  blankets 


30  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

and  some  bread  and  bacon  and  started  on  my  walk  of  fourteen 
miles  to  the  mission.  I  worked  there  all  summer  till  August  and 
then  came  down  to  Wayne  creek  and  from  there  to  Chinook.  I 
received  $225  from  Mr.  O'Hanlon  which  I  had  coming  for  the 
work  at  the  mission.  I  made  up  my  mind  to  come  to  Harlem. 
There  was  nothing  here  then  but  a  boxcar  for  a  depot.  The 
first  night  I  spread  my  blankets  about  where  the  depot  is  now. 
The  next  morning  we  took  our  blankets  to  the  bank  of  Thirty 
Mile  under  the  big  trees  and  not  far  from  where  this  house  is. 
I  remained  in  that  camp  for  about  a  week  and  then  came  to  the 
conclusion  to  start  a  little  store  here.  That  was  in  the  fall  of 
1 889.  There  was  only  one  family,  no  store  or  hotel.  Henry 
Playmondin  was  going  in  with  me. 

I  went  to  Chinook  and  had  a  talk  with  Tom  O'Hanlon,  but 
he  discouraged  me.  I  reported  to  Henry,  but  hold  him  I  would 
go  once  more  and  see  Tom.  I  met  Chas.  C.  Conrad  as  I  was 
getting  on  the  train,  who  was  glad  to  see  me,  and  asked  me  what 
I  was  doing.  I  told  him  what  I  wanted  to  do  and  he  told  me  to 
come  to  Benton  and  he  would  give  me  what  assistance  I  needed. 
On  Sunday  I  went  to  Benton.  The  next  morning  I  called  on 
Conrad  and  he  handed  me  a  note  to  his  head  man  telling  him  to 
give  me  all  the  credit  I  wanted.  I  only  had  $167  and  my  part- 
ner one  hundred.  We  bought  goods  to  trade  to  the  Indians,  out- 
fit costing  eight  or  nine  hundred  dollars.  Got  a  small  9x12  tent 
and  had  all  our  stuff  sent  down  to  Harlem  by  freight.  Freight 
moved  sooner  in  those  days  so  I  soon  got  to  Harlem  and  within 
an  hour  from  the  time  I  landed  there  we  had  the  tent  up  and 
were  doing  business.  That  tent  was  pitched  about  where  the 
Rasmussen  saloon  is  now.  I  slept  under  the  counter  which  was 
a  plank  I  had  brought  with  me.  I  took  in  about  $28  the  first 
day  and  had  a  little  trouble  with  my  partner  and  bought  him  out. 
I  put  up  a  log  cabin  12x18  and  that  was  the  first  store  in  the 
place.     Next  year  I  built  a  store  24x30. 

Al  Cecil  had  a  saloon  about  where  Phil  Buckley  is  now.  He 
was  the  man  who  took  up  the  land  on  which  the  town  is  but  he 
never  made  anything  out  of  it.  By  that  time  we  had  four  box- 
cars for  a  depot.  I  was  the  first  postmaster  and  the  postoffice 
was  a  shoe  carton.  Everybody  came  in  and  looked  to  see  if  there 
was  anything  for  him  and  no  questions  asked.  I  improved  a 
little  on  that  as  I  took  a  beer  box  and  made  it  into  an  office  and 
it  was  much  better  as  it  had  natural  pigeon  holes.  Still  every 
one  acted  postmaster.  We  soon  got  so  we  were  allowed  to  handle 
postal  money  notes.  These  looked  like  a  meal  ticket  and  ran 
from  one  cent  to  four  dollars  and  ninety-nine  cents.  Then  we  got 
the  money  order. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  31 

The  first  hotel  was  run  by  W.  R.  Sands  with  a  store.  C. 
H.  Barton  came  from  Chinook  and  was  a  partner  for  some  time 
to  later  buy  him  out.  The  first  school  was  taught  by  Martha 
Matherson.  The  school  was  down  along  the  tracks  opposite  Mike 
Buckley's.  This  was  in  1 892.  In  the  summer  of  1 892  they 
built  a  school  which  is  now  Saddler's  Hall,  owned  by  me. 
It  then  stood  north  and  south.  That  and  my  store  were  the 
only  buildings,  except  Tom  Everett's  cabin  on  this  side  of  the 
track.  The  first  white  woman  was  Mrs.  John  Manning.  Next 
white  family  was  Sands.  My  daughter  was  the  second  child 
born,  her  name  is  Hazel." 

Harlem  today  is  quite  a  place  and  one  of  the  best  little  towns 
in  Northern  Montana.  Two  banks,  one  good  hotel,  four  lumber 
yards,  four  elevators,  three  large  feed  stables  and  several  stores. 
I  can  not  name  them  all  and  it  would  hardly  be  fair  to  mention 
some  and  not  all. 

There  are  some  well  known  characters  around  the  little  burg 
that  one  is  sure  to  meet  if  he  goes  there.  One  of  them  is  a  large, 
portly  gentleman  who  wears  a  star  and  will  sure  capture  you  if 
you  don't  look  out.  He  is  called,  by  all,  Daddy,  and  while  not 
the  father  of  his  country  he  would  like  to  be. 

Then  there  is  my  friend  Lon  Ellis  who  looks  like  he  was 
always  hungry  but  he  isn't  because  he  and  "Daddy"  often  go 
bear  hunting  up  in  the  mountains  and  always  take  something  along 
so  that  they  will  not  have  to  tighten  their  belts  too  often,  as  they 
were  never  known  to  kill  anything  and  have  never  been  able  to 
find  anything  in  their  hunting  except  "dead  soldiers."  And  if 
you  went  to  Harlem  and  did  not  find  Bill  Hart  and  Jack  Saddler 
trying  to  string  some  one  it  would  be  because  they  are  dead.  Yet, 
all  the  same  they  are  good  fellows  and  I  like  them.  Of  course 
you  can't  help  meeting  Bill  Reed  and  Earnest  Ekegren  because 
they  are  trying  to  get  a  corner  on  business,  and  deserve  to,  as  they 
are  rustlers;  when  I  say  that  I  don't  mean  cattle  thieves. 

Then  there  is  Charlie  Kemp  who  actually  thinks  he  knows 
where  there  is  some  homestead  land  left  and  would  locate  you 
if  he  had  to  do  so  by  sneaking  you  over  the  line  into  Canada. 
Who  is  that  classy  looking  young  fellow  who  is  going  over  to 
John  Rancelers'  picture  show?  Why  that  is  Schultz.  And 
that  fine  looking  little  fellow  that  you  see  crossing  the  street  to 
guy  some  one  in  Jess  Angstman  and  the  fellow  who  has  just  run 
across  is  Jay  Rhoades  looking  for  mavericks.  Taken  all  in  all 
they  are  a  pretty  decent  bunch  that  in  some  way,  past  finding  out, 
have  managed  to  stay  out  of  the  "Pen." 


32  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

CHAPTER   V. 

Prospecting  and  Mining  in  Blaine  County. 

It  is  an  actual  fact  that  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Little 
Rockies  is  clouded  to  such  an  extent  that,  probably,  no  one  will 
ever  be  able  to  say:     "I  knew  the  man." 

The  writer,  in  his  search  for  truth,  has  found  only  conflicting 
statements.  That  William  Hamilton's  party  was  the  first 
authentic  one  concerning  which  we  have  heard  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  This  was  in  1868.  "Bill"  Bent  was  one  of  this  party 
and  he  tells  their  experience  in  quite  an  interesting  way  in  the 
story  of  his  life  which  will  be  found  in  its  proper  place  in  this 
work. 

That  any  one  else  came  until  1 884,  when  actual  placer  mining 
began,  Bent  does  not  know,  though  he  says:  "I  heard  that  some 
men  who  had  been  mining  in  some  of  the  Western  camps  got  off 
a  boat,  went  to  the  Little  Rockies  and  were  never  heard  of  again." 

The  writer  can  only  give  the  different  versions  as  they  have 
come  to  him  but  it  will  be  too  readily  seen  that  it  is  not  authentic 
history.  The  story  of  Harry  Rash  came  first  to  the  writer  and 
it  may  or  may  not  be  true.  I  have  no  reason  for  believing  that 
it  is  anything  but  true  as  in  a  conversation  with  Charles  Smith, 
one  of  the  first  men  to  mine  in  that  section,  I  asked  if  he  knew 
who  discovered  the  gold  in  the  Little  Rockies  and  he  replied  that 
he  did  not.  He  said:  "I  have  always  understood  that  'Dutch' 
Louis  and  Pike  Landusky  and  some  other  man  found  it."  Harry 
Rash  said  that  he  was  with  "Dutch  Louis"  and  Pike  Landusky 
and  that  he  (Rash)  found  it.  Daddy  Minugh  says  that  "It  is 
a  cinch  that  Frank  Aldrich  was  the  man  who  found  the  gold  in 
the  Little  Rockies." 

Now,  if  you  go  to  Chinook  for  information  of  the  early  days  of 
the  cow  country,  which  means  the  Milk  River  section,  the  Bear's 
Paw  and  Little  Rockies,  as  well  as  the  story  of  the  peculiar  class 
of  people  that  once  builded  their  homes  among  the  Bad  Lands  of 
the  Missouri,  you  will  be  told  to  see  "Billy  Skillen"  the  sage 
of  Old  Fort  Belknap.  As  we  were  in  Chinook  we  went  to  see 
"Billy."     Here  is  his  story. 

Discovery  of  Gold  in  the  Little  Rockies. 

"On  the  third  of  July,  1884,  Bill  McKinzie  stole  'Spud' 
Murphey's  horse  down  on  the  Missouri  river  and  started  for  Ft. 
Maginnis,  65  miles  away.  Lee  Scott  at  Rocky  Point  started 
to  look  for  McKinzie  and  the  blue  mare.  The  report  of  the 
theft  got  to  the  cowboys  and  they  caught  McKinzie,  close  to 
Maginnis,  shot  him  and  hung  him  on  a  big  coltonwood  tree  about 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  33 

one  mile  and  one-half  below  the  Fort  on  Hancock  creek.  About 
the  Fourth  of  July  there  was  some  trouble  at  the  races  over  bstting 
between  a  white  man  and  a  breed.  "Rattlesnake"  knocked  the 
breed  down  and  made  him  apologize  and  give  back  the  money. 
They  rode  into  town  (Lewistown)  tied  their  horses  in  front  of 
a  saloon  and  went  in  and  got  a  drink.  When  they  came  out, 
the  citizens  opened  fire  on  them  and  "Rattlesnake"  and  one  inno- 
cent man  were  killed.  From  this  time  on  the  strangling  of  horse 
thieves  and  road  agents  started  throughout  (Northern)  Montana 
and  the  Missouri  river. 

'Dutch  Louis'  ran  a  ranch  on  Crooked  creek  where  these 
men  (toughs)  would  stop,  going  from  the  Missouri  back  and 
forth.  Suspicion  fell  on  Louis.  He,  getting  afraid,  left  his  ranch 
and  went  into  the  Little  Rockies  with  Pike  Landusky  and  Frank 
Aldrich.  They  prospected  for  gold  and  found  some  in  a  creek 
which  they  named  Alder.  When  they  found  gold  Pike  left 
to  carry  the  news,  coming  through  what  was  after  Landusky,  to 
North  Moccasin  to  Maiden,  giving  his  friends  the  news  that  gold 
had  been  discovered  in  the  Little  Rockies.  Mat  Foley,  Sport 
Welsh,  Denton  Doer(?),  Billy  Leg  and  William  Skillen  left 
that  night  for  Maiden  to  outfit  with  grub,  lumber  and  so  forth 
(George  Herendeen  sold  this  lumber  to  them)  and  with  other 
parties,  Willard  Duncan,  Clois  Steadman  and  Tony  McFarlin 
went  down  to  Crooked  creek,  the  Missouri  river  and  to  the  Little 
Rockies. 

"A  mining  district  was  organized  and  Willard  Duncan  was 
elected  Recorder.  This  was  the  first  discovery  of  gold  in  the 
Little  Rockies.  No  sign  of  other  work  ever  having  been  done 
was  found  by  them  in  the  Little  Rockies.  (Frank  Aldrich  says 
that  they  were  not  the  ones  who  found  gold  in  the  Rockies  as 
there  was  a  pit  1 00  by  1 50  feet  that  showed  that  mining  had 
been  done  years  before.)  It  was  first  suspected  that  this  was 
what  was  known  as  the  lost  Key's  diggings. 

'There  must  have  been  two  thousand  men  in  there  that  fall 
as  they  came  from  ever}'  place  on  that  stampede.  Right  after 
the  talk  of  big  discovery,  soldiers  were  ordered  from  Ft.  Assinni- 
boine  to  investigate  the  conditions  there  and  report  to  the  depart- 
ment. They  were  under  the  command  of  Captain  Potter  of  the 
Eighteenth  Infantry.  He  notified  the  miners  that  they  could  stay 
there  until  such  time  as  a  report  was  made  on  the  conditions  but 
that  no  liquor  could  be  brought  in  as  it  was  an  Indian  reservation. 
Under  the  first  investigation  of  the  soldiers  there,  the  first  pit  was 
opened  in  Alder  Gulch,  the  discovery  running  about  one  dollar 
to  the  pan,  on  bedrock.  (The  writer  was  told  that  in  order  to 
show  the  Captain  that  there  was  pay  dirt  some  one  'Salted  the 


34  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

ground.'  As  to  that  the  writer  could  not  get  Skillen  to  say.)  The 
department  ordered  a  detachment  of  soldiers,  under  the  leadership 
of  Scott,  from  Ft.  Maginnis  to  be  stationed  at  Rocky  Point  to 
keep  order  and  supervise  the  reservation. 

'The  heaviest  gold  found  on  the  Little  Rockies  was  found 
at  the  mouth  of  Alder  Gulch,  on  a  high  rim,  by  "Nigger"  Shelby. 
Quite  a  little  money  was  taken  out  at  this  point.  The  heaviest 
piece  of  gold  found  in  the  Little  Rockies  was  found  by  William 
Skillen.  This  nugget  weighed  a  little  more  than  eighty-three 
dollars.  It  came  from  Rock  creek  and  was  valued  at  seventeen 
dollars  an  ounce.     This  nugget  was  sold  for  one  hundred  dollars. 

"Gold  quartz  was  discovered  in  the  Little  Rockies,  in  Mon- 
tana gulch,  by  Pike  Landusky.  The  first  lead  was  discovered, 
The  August,  by  Bob  Orman.  There  was  also  some  small  quan- 
tities of  galena  in  the  creek  beds."  That  is  Billy  Skillen's  account 
of  the  mines  as  he  saw  them  in  the  Little  Rockies.  Men  depend 
too  much  on  memory  and  do  not  think  that  some  time  they  will 
be  called  on  for  facts. 

After  the  reader  had  gone  through  all  that  is  recorded  he  will 
find  the  story  of  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Little  Rockies  of 
a  contradictory  nature.  Why  it  is  that  people  become  impressed 
with  a  thing  as  a  fact  that  is  more  than  half  fiction,  I  do  not 
know,  but  several  have  given  me  a  story  of  the  finding  of  gold  in 
this  part  of  Montana.  None  of  them  were  under  oath  to  tell  the 
truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  as  one  who 
is  trying  to  gather  facts  and  information  for  history  can  not  afford 
to  try  and  get  his  material  in  that  way,  as  men  from  whom  he 
was  expecting  facts  would  rebel  if  one  even  suspected  they  were 
careless  in  their  statements.  As  the  lands  where  the  gold  was 
discovered  was  on  an  Indian  reservation  no  one  would  have  a  right 
to  stay  there.  If  it  could  be  made  to  appear  that  the  values  were 
sufficient  to  prove  that  this  ground  could  be  made  to  produce 
more  as  mineral  ground  than  it  could  for  Indian  sustenance  then 
the  Government  allows  the  whites  to  remain  in  charge.  When  the 
soldiers  came  there  to  make  their  investigation,  the  miners,  so  I 
have  been  told  (see  above)  salted  the  ground  on  bedrock  so  that 
it  would  appear  to  carry  more  value  than  it  really  had.  Be  that 
as  it  may  the  miners  were  allowed  to  stay  and  that  part  of  the 
mountain  range  south  of  the  summit  was  thrown  open  so  that 
no  more  conflicts  could  occur  as  to  the  invading  of  the  Indian 
rights  by  the  whites. 

The  bad  lands  of  the  Missouri,  in  those  days,  were  more  or 
less  the  homes  of  many  who  could  lay  no  claim  to  right  living. 
These  men  had  come  as  buffalo  hunters,  traders,  wolvers  or  what 
not  and  many  of  them  had  become  free-lances  who  could  see  no 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  35 

particular  use  for  law  and  order  as  they  had  done  something  some 
time  or  some  where  to  throw  them  beyond  the  pale.  Some  of 
them  became  rustlers  and  made  havoc  among  the  big  herds  of 
cattle  that  had  taken  the  place  of  the  vast  herds  of  buffalo  that 
had  so  recently  been  wiped  from  the  face  of  the  earth  by  these 
same  hunters.  Of  course  not  all  of  these  hunters  and  wolvers 
could  be  considered  bad  men  because  some  of  the  finest  men  on 
the  frontier  helped  to  slay  the  Indian's  food  supply. 

There  were  enough  of  them,  however,  who  did  not  believe 
in  the  property  rights  of  others  and  these  were  the  ones  who  made 
it  necessary  to  form  a  vigilance  committee  under  the  leadership 
of  Granville  Stuart  and  Reece  Anderson.  These  two  men  were 
old  pioneers  of  Western  Montana  who  had  passed  through  a 
period  of  outlawry,  in  the  early  sixties,  when  it  had  become  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  form  a  band  of  valiant  men  to  safeguard  the 
rights  of  men  who  could  not  protect  themselves  from  a  band  of 
men  who  had  made  the  Western  part  of  the  state  an  unsafe  place 
until  they  were  exterminated. 

While  this  is  not  a  part  of  the  chapter  on  mining  in  the  county 
it  was  owing  to  the  peculiar  conditions  of  outlawry  that  at  that 
time  existed  that  caused  the  gold  to  be  found  in  the  Little  Rockies 
if  "Billy"  Skillen  is  right. 

It  does  seem  too  bad  that  we  cannot  get  the  truth  of  things 
that  happened  not  more  than  fifty  years  ago.  Chris  Keyes  and 
John  Lepley  found  the  first  gold  in  what  was  to  become  Lewis 
and  Clark  county.  It  was  found  at  Silver  Creek  in  1 864.  This 
same  man  Keyes  is  the  one  that  Skillen  mentions  as  the  man  that 
might  have  found  the  first  gold  in  the  Little  Rockies  as  it  is  known 
that  he  had  written  to  Lepley  to  drop  all  he  had  and  come.  It 
was  not  long  after  this  that  we  find  he  was  killed  down  on  the 
Missouri  when  on  his  way  to  the  claim  he  had  written  to  Lepley 
about. 

A  noted  character  of  the  plains  and  mountains,  Cyprienne 
Matt,  some  one  tells,  heard  that  J.  M.  Arnoux,  Tom  Haley  and 
another  man  found  gold  in  the  Little  Rockies  in  1 866. 

While  Skillen  may  be  right  as  to  dates,  it  is  a  fact  that  the 
first  news  given  to  the  world  of  discovery  of  gold  was  September 
3rd,  1884.  And  that  "Dutch  Louis"  was  the  man,  according  to 
most  reports. 

Frank  Aldrich  had  come  a  few  days  after  Louis.  He  went 
to  Ft.  Assinniboine  for  grub  and  Louis  panned,  while  he  was 
gone  (two  weeks  and  two  days)  One  Hundred  and  Nine  Dollars. 

Bob  Main  and  Charlie  Smith  and  "Dutch  Louis"  and  Frank 
Aldrich  were  the  first  to  begin  sluicing  and  took  out  as  much 
as  $20  per  day  to  the  man. 


36  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 


Frank  Aldrich's  Story. 


"When  and  under  what  circumstances  was  the  discovery 
made?"  was  the  question  put  to  Aldrich  by  the  reporter  on  The 
River  Press  of  Benton.  'We  struck  it  on  the  15th  day  of  June. 
Charlie  Brown  and  myself  were  prospecting  the  little  Rockies  and 
came  upon  Louis  Meyers  or  "Dutch  Louis"  in  this  gulch.  He 
had  found  good  indications  but  had  not  prospected  the  gulch 
well.  We  proposed  to  crosscut  the  gulch  working  together,  and 
did  so.  We  found  two  channels  where  good  prospects  were  got. 
On  bedrock  where  we  worked  we  got  as  high  as  $3.50  to  the  pan 
and  it  averaged  25  cents.  There  is  five  feet  of  solid  gravel  that 
will  average  a  bit  to  the  pan.  (The  discovery  claim  was  set  aside 
for  Aldrich,  Brown  and  Louie.)  We  were  not  the  first  to  find 
gold  there  as  near  the  mouth  of  the  gulch  there  was  a  pit  100 
by  150  that  had  evidently  been  sluiced  out  years  before."  This 
discovery  was  made  on  Beauchamp's  creek. 

Generally  when  gold  is  discovered  the  news  travels  very 
rapidly.  That  it  did  not  get  out  in  this  particular  case  is  because 
of  the  fact  that  those  fellows  had  no  right  in  there  prospecting 
as  it  was  an  Indian  reservation.  The  Government  had  learned 
that  when  the  prospector  finds  gold  he  will  have  it  no  matter  where 
it  may  be  located  so  as  socn  as  they  could  they  threw  open  that 
particular  portion  of  the  reservation  as  it  would  be  much  the  wisest 
thing  to  do.  LI  ad  they  attempted  to  have  driven  the  whites  out 
would  have  resulted  in  too  much  expense. 

Quartz  was  soon  found  and  the  quartz  mining  began  to  take 
up  the  attention  of  many  of  the  people  and  large  mills  for  the 
reduction  of  the  ore  was  soon  in  operation.  Some  of  them  did 
not  prove  of  any  value  till  some  new  process  was  learned  so  that 
some  of  the  largest  mills  for  the  reduction  of  gold  ore  in  the 
United  States  are  now  to  be  found  in  the  Little  Rockies  as  a  result 
cf  Dutch  Louie's  trying  to  hide  out  from  the  vigilantes. 

Bear  Paw  Mountains. 

It  is  not  many  miles  from  the  Little  Rockies  to  these  mountains, 
so  men  tried  to  find  both  placer  and  quartz  in  them. 

We  find  in  a  report  by  Leon  J.  Pepperberg,  the  following: 
'The  placer  deposits  of  the  Bear  Paw  Mountains  are  of  very 
little  importance,  although  some  coarse  gold  has  been  recovered  by 
panning  and  crude  sluice  methods  from  the  small  gravel  bars 
occurring  along  the  drainage  ways  throughout  the  group.  Since 
the  early  seventies  prospectors  have  searched  the  mountains  for 
lode  deposits,  and  although  several  pieces  of  promising  looking 
float  which  were  reported  as  having  been  picked  up  within  the 
district  were  brought  to  Havre  and  Chinook,  no  vein  of  value 


., 


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THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  37 

was  discovered  until  about  1 888.  (V.  Bogy  says  the  lead  was 
first  found  in  '78  by  Lloyd.)  In  1888  work  was  begun  on  an 
argentiferous  galena  vein  about  three  miles  southeast  of  Lloyd 
postoffice,  by  a  number  of  Chinook  business  men. 

Development  was  continued  for  several  years  and  according 
to  L.  V.  Bogy,  of  Chinook,  who  is  interested  in  the  property, 
about  seven  tons  sorted  ore  was  shipped  to  Great  Falls  for  treat- 
ment. The  claim  was  patented  in  1 892  and  since  that  time 
nothing  has  been  done  with  it. 

In  1 906  Steven  Randall  discovered  a  vein  of  supposed  copper 
ore  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  southeast  of  Clear  Creek  P.  O. 
Immediately  after  the  discovery  the  Copper  Gulch  Mining  Com- 
pany was  formed  of  Chinook  men,  to  sink  on  the  claims  Randall 
found.  The  shaft  sunk  on  the  site  of  the  original  discovery 
showed  the  vein  to  carry  values  in  lead,  silver,  gold  and  copper 
and  as  a  result  of  this  showing  much  prospecting  was  done  during 
1906  and  1907  along  the  tributaries  of  Cleark  creek,  especially 
around  the  head  of  White  Pine  Canyon.  The  district  is  not  a 
producer  at  the  present  time." 

The  veins  that  carry  gold  in  the  Bear  Paw  mountains  are 
very  thin  so  far  as  known.  There  may  be  at  some  time  values 
opened  up  in  that  section.  The  leads  of  the  Little  Rockies  have 
been  large  and  valuable  because  of  that  fact. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Church  in  Blaine  County. 

The  writer  has  been  very  fortunate  in  being  able  to  find  in 
Father  Eberschweiler,  of  Havre,  one  who  has  the  early  story  of 
the  Catholic  Church  of  Blaine  County,  as  far  as  the  records  show, 
well  in  hand.  We  quote  from  a  letter  from  the  Father  the  fol- 
lowing: "Father  De  Smet  was  the  first  missionary  who  traveled 
through  the  country  in  which  the  Assinniboines  and  Gros  Ventres 
lived,  and  through  which  Cree  half-breeds,  of  Canada,  roamed 
in  their  extensive  buffalo  hunts.  Then  Father  Point  visited  those 
Indians  in  passing.  Father  Giorda  came  from  Fort  Benton  to 
them  for  only  a  few  weeks  before  Easter,  1862,  and  baptized 
1 34,  mostly  children ;  after  which  he  had  to  leave  for  work  in  the 
far  west. 

"Under  President  Grant  the  missionary  work  for  the  Indians 
of  the  United  States  was  divided  among  the  missionaries  of 
diverse  beliefs.  Under  that  order  each  reservation  was  exclu- 
sively confided  to  a  certain  denomination.  The  care  of  the  large 
Ft.  Kelknap  Reserve  was  given  to  the  Methodist  preachers,  none 

256668 


38  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

of  whom  ever  came  to  do  any  work.  Nevertheless  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  were  forbidden  to  reside  in  the  reservation  or  do  any 
missionary  work  among  its  Indians.  Anyhow  some  Fathers  came 
from  the  St.  Peter's  Mission,  the  headquarters  of  East  Montana, 
to  visit  the  hunting  Cree  half-breeds.  On  one  of  these  visits 
Father  Philip  Rapaglio  became  sick  and  died  on  the  7th  of 
February,  1877,  at  a  place  near  the  present  railroad  station, 
Zurich.  This  place  is  marked  by  a  cross  and  now  called  "Priest 
Point."  He  was  buried  in  the  basement  of  the  Jesuit  Church 
of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the  first  church  in  Helena,  which  became 
the  cathedral  of  the  first  Bishop  of  Montana,  Right  Rev.  J.  B. 
Brondel,  when  he  arrived  at  the  end  of  August,  1883.  Father 
Grassi  visited  the  half-breed  Crees,  1879;  Father  Damian  till 
1883;  Father  Bandini,   1884. 

"At  the  end  of  August,  1883,  Father  Fredrick  Hugo  Eber- 
schweiler,  S.  J.,  came  from  Burlington,  Iowa,  to  Helena;  he 
was  attached  to  St.  Peter's  Mission  and  appointed  to  be  the 
first  resident  priest  to  which  belonged  a  very  large  district.  At 
one  of  his  visits  to  the  garrison,  Fort  Assinniboine,  Indians  told 
him  that  they  greatly  wished  that  a  mission  be  founded  for  them. 
The  Father  wrote  to  President  Cleveland  asking  the  permission 
to  erect  a  mission  and  school  buildings  on  the  reservation  belong- 
ing to  the  Fort  Belknap  Agency.  On  the  first  of  November, 
1885,  he  received  the  official  letter  granting  the  request. 

'The  exclusive  distribution  of  Indian  missions  to  special  sects 
was  no  longer  upheld.  He  went  to  the  Fort  Belknap  Agency, 
showed  his  official  letter  to  the  Indian  Agent,  Lincoln,  made 
arrangements  with  the  Indian  trader,  Thos.  O'Hanlon,  to  build 
there  a  log  cabin  which,  for  a  time,  could  be  a  priest's  residence 
and  a  chapel.  Mr.  O'Hanlon  was  always  a  most  generous  friend 
of  the  missionary  until  he  (O'Hanlon)  died. 

"On  the  eighth  of  December,  1885,  Father  Eberschweiler 
occupied  the  erected  building,  which  was  the  first  mission  house 
and  church  of  any  kind  ever  erected  in  the  Fort  Belknap  reserva- 
tion. During  the  winter  his  chief  occupation  was  to  learn  the 
Assinniboine  language  with  the  gratuitous  help  of  Mr.  William 
Bent,  the  Indian  interpreter,  and  to  compose  an  Indian  cate- 
chism and  to  teach  the  children,  who  came  from  the  Agency 
school,  to  his  chapel,  to  say  and  sing  prayers. 

'The  Indians  wished  that  their  permanent  mission  should  be 
built  in  the  Little  Rockies,  a  sub-agency  nearby,  as  many  of  the 
Indians  wished  to  settle  near  there.  Their  missionary  formulated 
their  petition,  to  which  their  Chiefs  subscribed,  and  sent  it  to  the 
President.  Senator  Vest  recommended  it  to  Congress,  which 
favorably  received  it;  all  to  be  settled  in  a  treaty  to  be  made. 


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ST.   PAIL'S   MISSION. 
Drawing  made  1911  by  Indian  boy  12  years  of  ago. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  39 

"On  the  first  of  May,  1 886,  the  missionary  went  to  the  Little 
Rockies  and  selected  for  the  mission  the  place  on  Peoples  creek 
where  it  comes  out  of  the  woody  mountains  into  a  beautiful  valley. 
He  then  traveled  to  Fort  Benton  to  find  a  contractor  and  workmen 
for  the  erection  of  the  mission  buildings.  Meanwhile  a  war 
between  the  Balknap  Indians  and  the  Canadian  tribe  of  Bloods 
had  started  and  no  man  would  come  into  their  land  and  expose 
his  scalp  to  be  taken  by  either  of  the  warring  tribes.  It  was  also 
not  possible  to  get  the  material  for  the  buildings.  The  Great 
Northern  railroad  was  not  yet  built,  nor  Great  Falls. 

"In  summer  time  steamers  brought  all  kinds  of  articles  up  the 
Missouri  river  from  St.  Louis  to  Fort  Benton,  from  where  they 
were  freighted  to  other  places  in  Montana  and  Canada.  There 
was  no  surplus  of  lumber  nor  did  any  freighter  like  to  come  to 
a  country  of  warring  Indians. 

"Father  Eberschweiler  returned  to  the  Little  Rockies,  where 
he  found  some  gold  miners.  He  made  a  contract  with  Mr. 
Umstet  to  erect,  with  the  help  of  his  companions,  large  log  build- 
ings for  a  residence  for  the  missionary,  a  church,  school  and 
dwellings  for  pupils  and  Sisters.  The  necessary  lumber  was 
ordered  and  it  arrived  in  the  summer  of  the  next  year,  1 887. 
The  work  was  begun;  logs  were  cut  in  the  near  woods,  the 
foundation  and  basement  was  built.  The  corner  stone  was  laid 
on  the  fifteenth  of  September,  1 886.  The  work  was  stopped 
unfinished  before  winter.  During  the  winter  of  1 886  and  1 887 
Father  Eberschweiler  remained  at  Fort  Belknap. 

"From  January  18  to  January  23,  1887,  Indian  commission- 
ers from  Washington  made  a  treaty  with  the  Indians  by  which 
the  lines  of  the  present  reservation  were  defined  and  their  petition 
regarding  the  Little  Rockies  agreed  to  and  the  selected  place  for 
the  future  mission  given  to  the  Jesuit  Fathers.  Father  Eber- 
schweiler subscribed  to  the  treaty  as  witness.  That  summer  the 
Belknap  tribes  and  the  Bloods  smoked  the  'Pipe  of  Peace.'  The 
mission  buildings  were,  little  by  little,  finished  on  the  15th  day  of 
September,  just  one  year  from  the  day  when  we  started. 

"Father  Eberschweiler  traveled  with  some  Ursuline  Sisters 
from  St.  Peter's  Mission  and  some  Indian  pupils  to  St.  Paul's 
Mission  and  occupied  its  first  mission  buildings. 

'The  successors  of  Father  Eberschweiler  built,  in  the  course 
of  time,  large  stone  buildings  for  the  flourishing  mission." 

Fredrick  Hugo  Eberschweiler,  S.  J.,  was  a  native  of  Prussia, 
Germany.  He  was  born  at  Waxweiler,  in  the  beautiful  Rhine 
province,  on  the  19th  day  of  June,  1839.  He  pursued  his 
studies  in  the  college  at  Treves,  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  on 
the  30th  day  of  September,  1858.  He  was  ordained  a  priest 
on   the    15th   day  of  June,    1870.      When   the  war  broke   out 


40  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

between  Germany  and  France  he  was  a  hospital  chaplain.  He 
came  to  America  in  August,  1872,  worked  in  Cleveland  and 
Toledo,  Ohio;  Burlington,  Iowa,  and  finally  in  Montana  and  is 
at  this  date  (December,  1916)  at  Havre,  Montana. 

The  St.  Paul's  mission  is  in  a  beautiful  cover,  or  amphitheater, 
at  the  northwestern  base  of  the  Little  Rockies,  and  was  built  for 
the  education  of  the  Fort  Belknap  Indian  children.  The  place 
selected  is  one  of  great  natural  beauty  on  Peoples  creek  where 
it  emerges  from  the  canyon. 

The  main  buildings  are  of  stone  and  in  good  repair.  The 
church  is  stone  and  the  entire  ceiling  is  covered  with  paintings. 
They  may  not  be  works  of  art  of  the  highest  kind  but  the  themes 
were  chosen  from  and  help  tell  in  pictures,  much  of  the  story  of 
the  Bible.  To  the  American  Indian  this  means  more  than  written 
word  could  ever  convey  as  they  were  adepts  in  picture  writing. 
If  not  adepts  it  was  their  way  of  conveying  their  thoughts  other 
than  spoken  language  or  the  sign. 

That  the  Jesuit  Fathers  had  any  other  desire  than  the  upbuild- 
ing of  their  church  and  the  wish  to  assist  the  Red  Man  to  become 
civilized  is  not  my  business  to  find  out.  That  they  have  tried  to 
reach  out  and  preach  the  doctrines  of  their  church  to  all  nations 
is  a  certain  thing.  That  many  of  the  brightest  and  most  highly 
educated  of  their  belief  have  lived  lives  of  unselfishness  must  be 
the  verdict  of  those  who  may  be  in  no  way  associated  with  them 
and  may  not  at  all  believe  as  they  do. 

Certainly  many  good  and  true  men  and  women  have  assumed 
the  mantle  of  chastity  and  celibacy  to  teach  what  they  believe 
to  be  for  the  best  interests  of  mankind. 

They  have  poled  their  boats  up  the  swollen  rivers  of  the 
west;  they  have  driven  the  light  birch  canoe  across  the  wild,  but 
beautiful,  lakes  of  the  east;  they  have  urged  their  dog  teams  across 
the  frozen  tracks  of  the  north;  and  sent  their  best  men  in  to  the 
fever-stricken  sections  of  the  south;  but  here  in  Blaine  County, 
Montana,  and  beneath  the  pine-clad  summits  of  the  Little  Rockies 
they  would  meet  with  no  particular  hardships  and  could  bend 
their  knees  in  grateful  thanksgiving  to  their  Father  in  Heaven  for 
the  particular  blessings  He  has  bestowed  upon  them. 

The  mission  proper  consists  of  the  large  stone  church  above 
mentioned  and  two  four-story  stone  buildings,  one  for  the  boys 
and  the  other  for  the  girls.  About  forty  of  each  sex,  boys  and 
girls,  find  a  home  at  the  place.  Father  Boll  was  in  charge  at 
the  time  the  writer  was  there,  December,  1916.  Father  Dinier 
is  the  Missionary.  Both  of  these  men  are  French,  and  no  doubt 
highly  educated. 

Besides  the  buildings  mentioned  there  are  shops,  stables,  out- 
buildings and  a  nicely  arranged  and  well-kept  farm. 


REV.   FATHER   EBERSCHWEILER. 
Founder  of  St.  Paul's  Mission  and  a  Grand  Old  Man. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  41 

Sister  Josephine  has  been  longer  at  the  mission  than  any 
other  person. 

Sister  Eulalia  has  charge  of  the  girls'  school  and  Mr.  I. 
Nicholson,  of  San  Francisco,  is  trying  to  instill  into  the  minds  of 
the  boys  the  right  way  of  living  that  has  been  prescribed  for  those 
who  must  now  travel  the  white  man's  road.  These  boys  do  not 
learn  too  readily,  so  the  teacher  said. 

Connected  with  the  mission  is  a  trained  nurse,  who  has  her 
home  in  the  little  cottage  which  is  used  for  guests. 

As  above  mentioned  this  is  a  most  beautiful  location  for  a 
church,  school  or  ranch.  It  was  first  occupied  by  Col.  Healy, 
now  of  Lodge  Pole,  who  had  selected  it  as  a  place  for  his  resi- 
dence. He  sold  his  cabin  to  the  Fathers  and  went  to  another 
place  on  the  reservation  as  he,  having  an  Indian  wife,  was  granted 
that  privilege. 

Father  Eberschweiler's  attention  was  called  to  the  place  by 
William  Bent,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  all  of  the  Milk 
River  country.  It  was  to  Bent  that  the  father  had  to  go  to  get 
some  one  who  could  help  him  translate  the  English  into  the 
Assinniboine  language. 

Father  Eberschweiler  was  one  who  had  the  appearance  of 
a  man  who  had  tried  to  live  as  he  had  preached.  His  was  a 
most  benign  countenance,  full  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness 
which  impressed  me  with  his  sincerity. 

Just  a  short  distance  up  the  creek  from  the  mission  is  a  most 
beautiful  natural  bridge  which  should  be  seen  by  any  passing  that 
way  or  who  visit  the  mission. 

Rev.  Peter  Thompson. 

The  Catholics  are  not  the  only  ones  who  are  trying  to  upbuild 
the  Indian  character  in  a  religious  way.  Over  near  Big  Warm 
is  the  home  of  Mr.  Thompson,  a  half-breed,  who  is  giving  up  his 
life  to  the  advancement  of  his  people.  He  is  a  Presbyterian  and 
has  a  nice  little  church  which  has  the  appearance  of  being  well 
cared  for.  We  were  not  fortunate  enough  to  meet  this  gentleman 
though  we  called  at  his  place.  These  are  the  only  places  on 
the  reservation  where  there  are  houses  of  religious  instruction. 

As  mentioned  by  Father  Eberschweiler  the  reservation  was 
given  over,  under  President  Grant,  to  the  Methodists.  There 
were  but  few  preachers  of  that  denomination  in  Montana  in  those 
early  days  and  they  were  in  the  mines  and  not  on  the  outskirts 
of  civilization  as  were  the  priests  of  the  Catholic  church.  There 
was  but  little  chance  that  the  ministers  of  the  Methodist  church 
would  be  able  to  go  among  the  Indians  with  as  small  a  possibility 


42  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

of  being  killed  as  the  Jesuits,  as  the  priests  of  that  denomination 
had  been  for  years  among  the  Red  man  and  had  taught 
them  to  have  respect,  more  or  less,  at  least,  for  the  Cross,  which 
was  worn  by  them  as  an  insignia  that  was  so  well  known  that  the 
Indians  had  respect  for  those  who  wore  it.  The  preachers  of  other 
denominations  did  not  wear  this  badge  of  honor  hence  could  not  as 
well  protect  themselves  from  the  cupidity  of  the  Red  Man. 

The  Cree  half-breeds  who  came  to  the  Milk  river  as  early  as 
1865  had  their  priests  with  them.  These  people  came  from 
Canada  and  with  them  (while  they  were  prosperous,  as  Louis 
Shambrow  tells  us)  their  priests.  He  said:  'These  fathers  were 
the  most  prosperous  ones  that  were  in  the  camps  during  the  days 
when  the  buffalo  robes  were  most  plenty  but  as  soon  as  the  hunt- 
ers became  poor  the  priests  no  longer  came."  I  suppose  as  long 
as  men  live  we  will  have  imposters.  It  may  have  been  that  those 
so  called  priests  who  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  buffalo  hunter 
were  only  there  for  the  purpose  of  getting  wealth  from  their 
ignorant  people.  This  is  not  really  a  digression  but  as  an  explan- 
ation why  the  ministers  of  the  other  denominations  did  not  get  out 
among  these  peculiar  people. 

We  find  that  the  next  man  to  try  to  reach  the  people  with 
the  Word  was  "Brother  Van."  Now  we  have  known  Brother 
Van  Orsdel  for  years  and  feel  that  he  thought  he  had  work  to 
do  among  the  whites,  in  the  mining  camps  and  out  along  the 
streams  where  the  scattering  ranch  homes  were.  They  were  just 
as  much  in  need  of  religion  as  were  the  Red  Men  of  the  plains. 
But  there  is  one  thing  certain  and  that  is  that  so  soon  as  others 
came  to  take  his  place  among  those  of  his  first  choice  he,  with  his 
characteristic  willingness  to  do  his  duty,  got  down  in  the  cow 
country  and  tried  to  help  the  cowboys.  So  we  find  that  his  is  the 
first  name  mentioned  in  his  profession  after  E. 

The  first  Protestant  denomination  to  begin  work  on  the  Milk 
river  was  the  Methodist,  as  we  find  the  following  from  "Bro. 
Van:"  'The  first  Methodist  Episcopal  minister  to  visit  Chinook 
was  Dr.  W.  B.  Spencer  of  the  Board  of  Church  extension.  This 
was  in  July,  1889.  He  preached  and  sang  in  the  hotel.  The 
same  summer  the  Rev.  Jacob  Mills,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Boze- 
man  district,  preached.  At  the  Annual  Conference  held  in  Liv- 
ingston, July,  1 890,  the  Great  Falls  District  was  organized  which 
took  in  all  the  country  from  the  summit  of  the  Rocky  mountains 
to  the  Dakotas,  and  from  the  Musselshell  to  the  Canadian  line. 

"W.  W.  Van  Orsdel  was  appointed  Presiding  Elder.  There 
were  five  preachers  in  the  district.  The  Presiding  Elder  came 
to  Chinook  in  the  month  of  September.  He  visited  the  town  at 
different  times,  and  in  February,   1891,  Rev.  George  Logan  of 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  43 

Fort  Benton  accompanied  him,  and  they  held  a  series  of  meet- 
ings for  two  weeks. 

"The  church  was  organized  with  nine  members,  as  follows: 
R.  D.  Perret  and  wife  and  their  daughter  Mabel,  Peter  Denny 
and  wife,  H.  D.  Riegle  and  wife,  Mrs.  Gelder  and  Mrs.  Rain- 
bolt.     Bro.  Lewis  Wilson  and  family  came  soon  after. 

"In  July,  1891,  the  conference,  Rev.  R.  A.  Armstrong  was 
appointed  pastor  at  Chinook  and  Glasgow,  being  the  only  Pro- 
testant minister  in  the  whole  Milk  River  valley,  in  fact  from  Fort 
Benton  to  Dakota.  It  was  during  his  pastorate  that  the  present 
church  site  was  secured  and  a  subscription  was  taken,  and  the 
church  was  built.  To  the  best  of  our  knowledge  this  was  the 
first  Protestant  church  between  Great  Falls  and  Dakota.  Brother 
Armstrong  served  his  charge  for  two  years  successfully.  He  was 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Thos.  Hicks,  who  remained  but  one  year. 

"In  August,  1 894,  Rev.  Allen  Rogers  was  appointed  pastor 
of  Havre  and  Chinook.  During  his  successful  pastorate  a  new 
organ  was  purchased,  and  the  interior  of  the  church  was  finished. 
A  gracious  revival  was  held  and  thirty  united  with  the  church. 
J.  A.  Martin  of  Glasgow  and  Superintendent  Van  Orsdel  assisted 
the  pastor.  It  was  during  this  meeting  that  A.  W.  Hammer,  the 
Cow  Boy  Preacher,  was  converted  and  soon  commenced  his  suc- 
cessful ministry." 

The  people  of  Montana  have  known  "Brother  Van"  for 
many  years  and  feel  that  he  thought  he  had  work  to  do  among  the 
whites  in  the  mining  camps  and  out  along  the  streams  where  the 
scattering  ranch  homes  were.  These  people  were  just  as  much  in 
need  of  religion  as  were  the  Indians  of  the  plains.  But  there 
is  one  thing  certain,  and  that  is,  that  as  soon  as  others  came  to 
take  his  place  among  those  of  his  first  choice  he,  with  his  char- 
acteristic willingness  to  do  his  duty,  got  down  in  the  "Cow  Coun- 
try" and  tried  to  help  the  cowboys.  So  we  find  by  some  writer 
who  has  not  taken  time  to  verify  his  story  that  "Bro.  Van"  was 
the  first  one,  after  Father  Eberschweiler,  to  preach  the  gospel 
along  the  Milk  river,  but  the  foregoing  account  of  Brother  Van's 
has  given  credit  where  credit  is  due  and  the  one  who  wants  facts 
will  find  them  in  this  chapter  on  the  Church  in  Blaine  County. 

Other  men  who  came  here  to  help  carry  on  the  work  were 
Rev.  Brewer  and  Revs.  Stringfellow  and  Chrisler  of  the  Episco- 
pal church  and  Revs.  I.  N.  Roberts,  Baird,  Mills  and  Day  of 
the  Presbyterian  church. 

These  men  did  their  work  well  and  left  behind  them  the  fruits 
of  their  labor  in  the  churches  and  schools  that  are  to  be  found  in 
convenient  places  throughout  the  country. 


41  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Cowboy  Days. 

It  took  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  for  one  to  believe  that 
cattle  could  be  raised  to  advantage  on  the  northern  plains,  Milk 
river,  and  the  mountains  adjacent. 

The  plainsmen,  traders,  freighters  and  squaw-men,  had  seen 
the  actual  conditions  of  each  season.  The  buffalo  that  had  ranged 
in  countless  numbers  needed  grass,  and  plenty  of  it,  to  keep  them 
in  good  condition.  It  was  known  that  there  were  seasons  of 
drought  and  seasons  of  plenty  of  rainfall;  that  many  a  winter 
the  snow  did  not  fall  and  that  the  Chinook  was  almost  sure  to 
melt  the  snows,  if  they  came,  and  give  the  cattle  a  chance  to  live. 
The  years  that  the  snow  would  fall  deep  and  stay  were  exceptions. 

To  begin  stock  raising  on  the  plains  as  soon  as  the  whites 
came  would  have  been  suicidal.  The  buffalo  would  have 
destroyed  all  hopes  of  success,  even  though  the  Indians  had 
not  been  there  to  bar  the  way.  Then,  again,  the  mountains 
and  valleys  of  Western  Montana  were  ideal  places  in  which  to 
raise  cattle,  horses  and,  later,  sheep,  as  hardly  any  snow  would 
fall,  to  lay,  and  the  settlements  precluded  any  possibility  of  loss 
through  Indian  raids.  The  rustler  had  not  become,  so  far  as 
Montana  was  concerned,  a  menace.  But,  in  a  way,  the  valleys 
in  the  mountains  were  becoming  settled  and  the  stockman,  ever 
being  afraid  of  being  crowded,  pulled  for  the  eastern  and  central 
part  of  the  state  as  soon  as  the  Indian  was  no  longer  on  the  war- 
path, as  too  many  whites  had  come  to  settle  the  country  for  it  to 
be  longer  safe  for  him  to  go  on  his  raids  for  scalps. 

The  Judith  and  Musselshell  were  to  be  settled  first — as  they 
were  known  to  be  less  hazardous  than  the  Milk  river  country. 
When  these  sections  became  over-crowded  (?)  the  stockmen 
began  to  look  for  new  pastures;  and,  as  above  mentioned,  the 
conditions  were  known  in  the  Milk  river  section,  they  pulled  for 
there  with  their  numerous  herds. 

As  near  as  I  can  find  out,  though,  Thomas  O'Hanlon  and 
others  of  the  Old  Fort  Belknap  Indian  Agenc}',  were  the  first 
men  to  see  the  possibilities  of  cattle  raising  in  what  is  now  Blaine 
county.  They  could  not,  however,  run  them  in  large  herds,  as 
the  Indians  were  apt  to  get  away  with  them.  They  had  to  be 
closely  herded,  which  is  not  by  any  means  a  good  way  to  raise 
cattle  to  any  advantage. 

This,  according  to  Mr.  Joe  Mosser,  was  in  1 878.  They 
had  permission  from  the  Agent,  who  had  secured  the  privilege 
from  the  Government.  Al  Shultz  became  the  foreman  of  this 
outfit.  This  was  before  the  post  was  built  at  Assinniboine ;  hence 
before  there  was  any  protection  to  be  had  from  the  soldiers. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  45 

The  cattle  of  the  O'Hanlon  company  must,  then,  be  con- 
sidered as  the  first  to  be  raised.  They  were  not  raised  exactly 
under  what  might  be  called  range  conditions,  though  they  fed 
on  the  range. 

In  1882  Simon  Pepin  moved  his  cattle  from  their  range  in 
the  west  and  Pepin  and  Broadwater  run  cattle  for  years.  Louis 
Shambrow,  the  noted  scout,  was  one  of  their  cow-punchers. 

This  must  have  been  the  first  herd  under  range  conditions  as 
I  find  that  the  next  cattle  to  come  in  were  those  which  belonged 
to  Granville  Stuart,  Kohrs  and  Bielenberg  and  others.  They 
had  been  running  their  herds  south  of  the  Missouri  but  got  per- 
mission from  the  Government  to  run  them  north  of  the  river  and 
on  to  the  reservation  in  the  summer  or  fall  of  1 886.  Daddy 
Marsh  told  the  following  concerning  the  moving  of  the 
cattle  across  the  Missouri  river  in  1886.  'The  season  was 
exceedingly  dry  and  Granville  Stuart  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  would  be  wise  to  cross  them.  He  got  permission  from  the 
Government  to  take  them  to  the  reservation  near  the  Little 
Rockies.  The  water  holes  were  drying  up  on  the  south  side  so 
that  when  the  cattle  came  to  the  Missouri  at  Rocky  Point  they 
were  in  misery.  There  was  a  big  bar  of  quick  sand  that  ran 
down  quite  a  ways.  I  ccalled  the  foreman's  attention  to  it  and  told 
him  that  he  had  better  station  his  men  to  change  the  course  of 
the  herds  as  they  approached  the  river  so  that  they  would  not 
get  caught  in  the  trap.  Say,  you  couldn't  stop  the  leaders,  as 
soon  as  they  scented  the  water  they  rushed  for  it  and  soon  hun- 
dreds of  them  were  hopelessly  entrapped.  The  boys  tried  to  haul 
them  out  with  their  saddle  horses  and  then  hitched  their  teams 
but  no  good  was  coming  from  their  efforts.  Soon  a  steamboat 
came  along  and  the  Captain  thought  he  could  help  so  he  ran  out 
a  spar  and  they  dug  down  and  put  the  rope  around  the  animal 
and  turned  their  engine  loose  with  the  result  that  they  pulled  the 
brute  in  two  and  never  pulled  her  feet  out  of  the  sand.  The  boys 
had  to  use  their  six-shooters  on  the  bunch  and  kill  them  to  put 
them  out  of  the  way.  I  tell  you  the  half-breeds  that  were  around 
there  had  a  picnic  for  days  cutting  in  and  getting  what  meat  they 
could."  The  winter  which  followed  was  one  of  the  most  dis- 
astrous ever  known  to  the  stockmen  of  the  Northwest.  Books 
could  be  filled  with  interesting  incidents  of  that  winter.  Men 
who  had  been  considered  wealthy — not  considered,  but  actually 
wealthy — came  out  the  next  spring  without  a  cent,  and  some  of 
them  in  debt.  Many  were  crippled  so  they  never  again  recov- 
ered. They  simply  lost  their  nerve  and  quit.  Though  the 
range  conditions  were  never  again  as  bad,  and  they  could  have 
made  good,  they  would  not  try. 


46  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

John  Bielenberg  and  Con  Kohrs — now  men  who  have  all 
they  need — lost  all  they  had.  Mr.  Bielenberg  told  the  writer 
that  that  winter  of  '86-'87  they  lost  $400,000  worth  of  cattle. 
They  had  enough  with  which  to  pay  all  their  debts  and  as  they 
were  noted  for  their  ability  to  rustle  and  also  a  knowledge  of 
cattle  and  range  conditions  they  were  extended  credit  by  A.  J. 
Davis,  the  rich  banker  and  mining  man  of  Butte,  and  got  on 
their  feet  once  more. 

Mr.  Kohrs  told  the  writer  the  following  concerning  that  trans- 
action: "My  experience  in  the  stock  business  savers  somewhat 
of  the  romantic.  I  was  a  green  German  boy  when  I  came  to 
Montana.  I  was  trying  to  get  out  of  the  territory  and  go  west. 
I  was  camped  on  the  Deer  Lodge  river  and  was  waiting  for  the 
party  to  pull  out  when  something  occurred  to  change  all  my  plans. 
I  had  learned  something  about  the  butcher  business  as  a  boy  and 
thought  I  could  make  a  living  at  that.  While  we  were  camped 
on  the  Deer  Lodge  a  man  had  a  beef  to  kill  and  asked  if  I  had 
ever  done  anything  of  the  kind.  I  at  once  told  him  I  was  sure  I 
could  do  the  job  and  he  told  me  to  turn  myself  loose.  Hie  pay 
that  I  was  to  receive  was  the  head  and  neck.  Now  I  want  to 
explain  to  you  that  we  had  been  living  on  short  rations  for  some 
time  and  I  was  hungry  and  when  that  head  was  cut  off  I  am 
ashamed  to  say  it  had  the  longest  neck  I  ever  saw  on  a  cow  brute, 
as  it  was  cut  off  pretty  well  down  toward  the  tail.  Soon  after 
I  had  finished  this  artistic  job,  a  man  who  was  to  be  somewhat 
noted  in  the  story  of  Montana,  Hank  Crawford,  came  along  and 
learning  that  I  was  a  butcher  (?)  told  me  he  would  give  me  $25 
per  month  and  board  if  I  would  go  to  Bannack  and  work  for  him. 
Now  twenty-five  dollars  was  not  much  money  in  those  days  and 
that  did  not  appeal  to  me  but  that  word  board  was  the  one  that 
made  me  consider  his  offer  and  take  it,  as  I  had  not  had  enough 
to  eat  for  days.  I  was  a  very  able-bodied  man  in  those  days  and 
did  not  know  what  tired  meant  but  I  was  soon  to  learn  it  in  all 
of  its  variations.  That  fellow  Crawford  must  have  sized  me  up 
for  an  animal  of  some  kind,  probably  an  ass,  as  the  work  first 
assigned  me  was  surely  some  job.  He  had  bought  three  wild 
heifers  of  some  one  on  Cottonwood  (the  creek  where  the  City 
of  Deer  Lodge  is  now)  and  helped  me  take  them  out  a  few 
miles  and  then  told  me  that  I  was  to  take  them  to  Bannack,  a 
place  that  I  had  never  seen.  (He  had  asked  me  where  my 
butcher  tools  were  and  I  rustled  a  butcher  knife  and  a  hatchet  and 
borrowed  a  hand-saw  from  a  friend.  These  were  well  wrapped 
up  and  put  in  a  wagon  that  some  one  was  taking  with  them  to 
the  mines.)  When  he  turned  me  loose  with  those  heifers  they 
were  in  no  frame  of  mind  to  give  me  much  trouble  because  there 
were  no  other  stock  in  sight.     When  I   got  the  other  side  of 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  47 

Dempsy  creek  the  baby  cows  saw  a  band  of  cattle  that  belonged 
to  Bob  Dempsy  and  they  took  for  them  as  fast  as  they  could  go. 
The  weather  was  hot  and  the  exercise,  which  I  did  not  need, 

caused  me  to  get  mighty  warm.     The  fact  is  I  was  d d  hot  in 

both  mind  and  body.  I  chased  those  heifers  and  that  band  of 
stock  all  over  those  hills  trying  to  cut  them  out.  It  seemed  to 
me  to  be  a  useless  expenditure  of  muscle  and  wind  as  it  did  not 
seem  to  do  any  good.  All  at  once  I  saw  a  man  going  by  on 
horse-back  and  I  called  his  attention  to  my  trouble  and  asked  him 
if  he  wouldn't  use  his  pony  to  help  those  heifers  change  their 
minds  and  get  them  strung  out  on  the  road  to  Bannack  as  it 
seemed  that  I  was  about  to  run  my  legs  off  without  accomplishing 
anything.  Sure  I  was  a  foot!  That  was  what  I  meant  when 
I  said  that  Hank  must  have  taken  me  for  some  kind  of  an  animal. 
"I  afterward  learned  that  the  gentleman  who  helped  me 
change  the  minds  of  those  brutes  and  get  them  strung  out  on  the 
road  again,  was  Dr.  Glick.  He  cut  them  out  and  helped  me  for 
a  few  miles  and  then  rode  on  his  way.  It  was  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  from  Cottonwood  to  Bannack.  We  came  by  the  Big 
Hole  and  forded  the  river  near  the  place  where  Brown's  Bridge 
was  afterward  built.  This  was  the  first  place  where  I  could 
rest.  I  laid  down  thinking  that  the  cattle  would  be  tired  enough 
to  rest  for  a  while  at  least.  I  know  that  I  had  only  been  asleep 
but  a  short  time  when  I  missed  the  heifers.  I  started  on  the  back 
trail  and  caught  them  before  they  could  cross  the  river.  This 
was  enough  to  satisfy  me  that  they  needed  more  exercise  and  that 
my  only  hope  was  to  keep  them  going.  I  got  after  them  and 
hazed  them  right  along  and  when  within  a  few  miles  of  Bannack 
Hank  came  out  and  met  me  and  they  were  soon  placed  where 
they  could  not  run  any  more.  I  had  made  the  1 20  miles  in  about 
36  hours.  I  only  worked  for  him  for  one  month  at  $25  per 
month,  as  he  soon  found  out  I  could  keep  his  books  so  he  raised 
me  to  $100.  I  worked  for  him  for  some  time  and  came  to  the 
conclusion  to  go  into  business  for  myself.  I  saw  several  of  the 
miners  and  got  them  to  loan  me  some  money  with  which  to  buy 
a  starter  in  the  business.  Some  one  had  several  steers  for  sale 
and  I  bought  them  with  the  borrowed  money.  I  turned  them  out 
up  the  Grasshopper  just  above  town  and  that  night  they  were  run 
off  by  the  Indians  or  some  one  else  and  I  had  to  begin  over  again. 
The  miners  from  whom  I  had  borrowed  the  money  knew  the 
shape  I  was  in  and  they  asked  me  what  I  intended  to  do  and  I 
told  them  they  must  loan  me  some  more  in  order  to  give  me  a 
chance  to  make  something  to  pay  them  what  I  had  first  borrowed. 
They  were  nice  fellows  who  were  making  money  and  they  kindly 
helped  me  again. 


48  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

"When  they  discovered  the  mines  at  Alder  I  went  there  and 
began  the  business.  Every  time  I  could  find  steers  for  sale  I 
got  them  and  was  a  big  cattle  man  in  a  very  short  while.  I 
bought  the  John  Grant  ranch  in  '66  and  with  it  about  600  head  of 
cattle,  probably  the  largest  herd  in  Montana  in  those  days.  This 
gave  us  headquarters  until  we  got  more  than  we  could  handle 
to  advantage  in  the  Deer  Lodge  country  so  we  had  to  change 
our  base  and  look  to  the  range  in  the  central  and  eastern  part  of 
the  Territory.  A  lot  of  us  who  had  been  in  the  business  for  years 
soon  found  that  the  Judith  was  well  adapted  to  stock  raising  so 
we  sent  many  of  our  cattle  to  that  section.  One  soon  expands  on 
the  range,  that  is,  he  soon  allows  his  herds  to  scatter  into  the 
places  where  the  best  grass  is  to  be  had.  It  was  in  that  way  that 
we  got  several  miles  east  of  the  Judith  country  by  the  season  of 
1886.  The  grass  being  better  on  the  north  side  of  the  Missouri 
we  got  permission  from  the  Government  to  put  our  cattle  on  the 
Belknap  reservation.  That  winter  we  made  such  a  big  losing 
that  we  were  broke.  I  met  A.  J.  Davis  one  day  and  he  said: 
'Con,  I  hear  that  you  have  met  with  some  heavy  losses  this  past 
winter,  how  is  it?'  I  replied  that  we  had,  but  that  we  had  enough 
to  pay  all  we  owed.'  He  then  said:  'There  is  $1 00,000  to  your 
credit  in  this  bank  so  you  can  start  in  the  stock  business  as  soon 
as  you  want.'  This  was  a  surprise  to  me  that  the  judge  should 
offer  us  a  credit  without  solicitation  on  our  part,  so  I  asked  him 
how  long  the  offer  would  hold  good.  I  did  not  have  any  definite 
plan  in  my  head  as  to  what  I  wanted  to  do.  I  soon  came  to  the 
conclusion  to  go  to  Oregon  and  look  over  the  situation.  I  soon 
found  that  I  could  spend  the  $100,000  and  as  much  more  in 
what  looked  good  to  me.  I  wired  Davis  what  I  thought  and 
asked  for  an  additional  $100,000.  His  reply  was  to  do  what 
ever  I  saw  for  the  best.  I  had  no  sooner  spent  that  money  than 
I  found  where  I  could  use  $60,000  more  and  so  wired  him.  To 
make  my  story  short  the  judge  allowed  me  to  use  that  also.  When 
I  returned  to  Montana  I  owed  him  $260,000.  I  will  say 
that  that  credit  for  which  I  had  not  asked  came  to  us  in  time  to 
help  us  make  a  success  in  the  stock  business.  I  had  lived  so 
long  in  Montana  that  Mr.  Davis  knew  I  had  always  met  all  of 
my  obligations." 

The  man  who  would  have  the  nerve  to  attempt  to  drive  three 
head  of  wild  range  cattle  on  foot  for  over  one  hundred  miles  had 
nerve  enough  to  get  out  from  under  almost  any  serious  load. 

The  ordinary  cowboy  would  never  have  started  on  such  a 
trip.  He  would  have  invited  Hank  to  or  directed  him  to  a  most 
decidedly  disagreeable  climate  and  gone  off  disgusted  to  think 
that  anyone  took  him  for  such  a  fool  as  to  even  try  such  an  almost 
impossible  feat. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  49 

All  cow  men  know  how  hard  it  is  to  drive  two  or  three  cattle 
any  place.  In  the  large  herd  they  will  stay  together  and,  even 
though  one  happens  to  stray  a  little  to  one  side,  the  main  herd  goes 
on  and  the  stray  can  be  brought  back  without  any  serious  trouble. 
Take  three  head  and  if  they  do  not  stay  together,  and  they  are 
not  apt  to,  there  is  all  kinds  of  hard  feelings  in  the  cowboy's  mind 
toward  that  little  outfit.  One  will  go  one  way,  probably  the 
other  two  in  another  direction,  or  the  three  may  make  up  their 
minds  to  go  in  three  different  directions  at  the  same  time,  while 
the  cowboy  is  sure  that  there  is  only  one  way  at  a  time  that  he 
can  go.  After  the  cattle  have  acted  in  this  way  for  some  time 
there  is  only  one  place  where  the  cowboy  wishes  them  to  be  and 
that  is  a  place  where  the  barbecue  is  certain  and  where  they  will 
no  longer  bother  him.  It  recalls  to  the  writer's  mind  a  little  thing 
that  occurred  at  his  ranch  one  day.  One  of  his  sons  was  trying 
to  cut  out  a  saddle  horse  from  a  band  of  fifty  horses  and  take  it 
to  the  corral.  He  was  having  a  whole  lot  of  trouble.  Wm. 
Montgomery,  the  big  ranchman  of  the  Big  Hole,  was  looking 
on  and  he  said:  'That  boy  of  yours  puts  me  in  mind  of  a  hired 
man  I  had  on  my  ranch.  I  sent  him  out  after  a  saddle  horse  and 
he  began  just  as  the  boy  is  doing,  to  cut  the  horse  out  and  bring 
it  in  alone.  He  was  not  successful.  He  came  and  reported  and 
I  asked  him  why  he  did  not  bring  the  whole  band  in?  He  turned 
on  me  with  disgust  depicted  in  his  face  and  said:     'How  in  hell 

can  you  bring  in  a  whole  band  when  it  is  d d  hard  to  bring 

in  one  ? 

The  brand  of  Kohrs  was  the  D-S.  The  foreman  was  John 
R.  Smith.  They  had  their  headquarters  on  Dry  Beaver  at  the 
east  end  of  the  Little  Rockies.  The  circle  C,  Bob  Coburn,  came 
from  the  same  section  and  located  not  far  from  Kohrs.  Horace 
Brewster  was  in  charge  of  their  stuff.  Henry  Seiben  came  about 
the  same  time  with  Frank  Arnett  as  foreman. 

The  Bearpaw  pool  came  in  1891  with  L.  B.  Taylor,  now 
Senator  from  Blaine  county,  as  foreman. 

Charlie  Williams  came  with  the  Shonkin  pool  about  the  same 
time. 

"Si"  Gamble  came  with  the  Tom  Crain  outfit  in  '89. 

It  did  not  take  long  to  take  up  the  range,  that  is,  all  that  was 
outside  of  the  reservation.  Thousands  of  cattle  were  finding 
plenty  to  eat,  and  big  frisky  calves  were  growing  and  getting  fat 
to  become  toppers,  as  steers,  on  the  Chicago  market.  Hundreds 
of  cowboys  and  cowmen  roamed  all  over  Northern  Montana 
clear  to  the  Canadian  line.  Wagons  would  start  in  the  spring 
and  the  boys  would  gather  and  brand  the  calves,  then  the  beef 
herd  was  to  be  gathered  in  the  fall  and  taken  to  market. 


50  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

The  getting  of  the  steers  to  the  railroad  some  times  required 
days  and  even  weeks.  Of  course  weeks  when  men  from  Montana 
had  to  drive  their  stock  to  Cheyenne  to  load  in  those  times  before 
we  had  railroads  in  this  country.  To  take  cattle  that  distance 
required  care,  as  they  must  take  on  flesh  and  not  lose  any.  The 
way  that  could  be  done  was  to  allow  them  to  drift  in  the  direction 
they  were  to  go  and  their  ordinary  travel  to  fill  would  take  them 
the  required  distance  toward  their  destination  for  the  day. 

The  fording  of  streams  that  must  be  crossed  was  not  the 
easiest  thing  in  the  world.  When  such  streams  as  the  Yellow- 
stone are  at  their  high  times  it  is  no  fun  to  swim  a  bunch  of  cattle 
and  get  your  outfit  over  in  safety.  One  man  told  me  that  it  took 
them  three  days  once  to  cross  the  Yellowstone  with  a  herd  of  Con 
Kohrs'  cattle  and  that  eighty-three  head  were  drowned  in  the 
attempt. 

On  these  trips  there  was  the  night  herd  to  be  stood.  It  might 
be  very  easy  pastime  or  it  might,  before  morning,  spell  tragedy  to 
some  of  the  cowboys  who  might  be  mixed  in  a  stampede.  But 
it  was  a  life  the  boys  liked. 

I  recall  a  little  story  that  was  told  me  by  Nick  Bielenberg. 
"Quite  a  number  of  years  ago  I  bought  some  cattle  of  Granville 
Stuart.  We  had  to  move  them  across  the  country  to  the  railroad. 
Granville  was  along  with  the  outfit  but  as  far  as  making  a  hand 
was  concerned  he  was  no  good.  He  was  always  a  great  fellow 
to  read.  He  thought  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  take  a  whole  lot 
of  books  for  the  cowpunchers'  enjoyment.  Darned  if  I  know 
how  many  he  had,  but  anyway  a  sack  full.  The  v/ay  those  cow- 
boys would  tackle  those  books  was  a  caution.  They  would  come 
into  camp  and  pick  up  a  book  and  the  cook  would  holler  'Grub 
Pile'  till  he  was  red  in  the  face  and  he  could  never  get  all  those 
fellows  to  come  at  the  same  time.  Just  as  soon  as  a  fellow  would 
drop  a  book  some  other  galoot  would  grab  it.  The  cook  called 
me  aside  one  day  and  told  me  he  was  going  to  quit  as  the  boys 
thought  more  of  Granville's  books  than  they  did  of  his  grub.  It 
would  never  do  to  lose  a  good  cook  at  that  time  in  the  game  and 
I  told  him  not  to  say  anything  and  I  would  see  that  they  would 
cause  him  no  more  trouble.  It  was  the  next  day  that  we  arrived 
at  the  Yellowstone  so  I  gathered  up  the  books  and  threw  them 
into  the  river,  thus  starting  the  first  circulating  library  ever  known 
in  Montana." 

Many  an  amusing  incident  took  place  in  the  cattle  shipping 
days.  Some  of  the  things  would  not  bear  repeating.  A  cowboy, 
or  several,  if  the  train  was  a  long  one,  would  need  to  be  along 
to  see  that  the  cattle  were  not  injured.  When  stock  got  down  in 
the  car  there  was  a  chance  that  they  would  be  tramped  to  death. 
Care  was  required  at  all  times  to  keep  them  on  their  feet.     If  an 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  51 

animal  was  lying  down  in  a  natural  way  there  would  be  no 
danger  unless  it  was  so  lying  that  it  might  be  in  the  way  and 
upset  some  of  its  fellows  and  thus  make  a  pile-up.  There  are 
many  things  to  do  in  such  cases  but  it  is  not  part  of  this  story 
to  try  to  educate  those  who  do  not  know  how  to  ship  cattle  to 
market. 

After  the  boys  got  to  market  they  would  take  in  the  town  and 
have  a  little  innocent  fun.  If  there  was  a  one  who  was  green 
along  it  was  up  to  them  to  see  that  he  became  wise  to  all  that 
was  to  be  known. 

There  was  a  character  in  the  range  days  of  Montana  known 
to  all  Montana  people  either  by  sight  or  by  name,  "Two  Dot" 
Wilson.  He  was  one  of  the  big  stockmen  in  the  state  but  he  was 
the  most  careless  man  as  to  his  appearance  known  in  the  country. 

One  season  he  made  a  shipment  to  Chicago  and  sold  his 
steers.  The  cowboys  thought  that  they  would  have  some  fun  at 
the  old  man's  expense  so,  as  they  were  walking  up  the  street  they 
met  a  policeman  and  told  him  that  the  old  man  coming  behind 
them  was  a  vag  as  he  had  just  asked  them  for  money  to  eat  on. 
When  Two  Dot  came  up  the  police  said  "Come  with  me." 
Wilson  wanted  to  know  why,  but  was  told  not  to  talk  back  that 
he  would  know  why  soon  enough.  He  went  along  with  the 
officer  till  he  got  to  a  bank  where  he  did  business  and 
asked  the  gentleman  in  whose  custody  he  was  if  he  could  go  in. 
For  some  reason  he  was  allowed  to  go  into  the  bank  and  he 
walked  up  to  the  cashier's  window  and  said :  "Can  I  get  a  check 
cashed  here?"  "Why,  certainly,  Mr.  Wilson,  you  have  about 
thirty  thousand  dollars  to  your  credit,  how  much  do  you  want?" 

"D if  I  know  how  much  this  S — ,  pointing  to  the 

policeman,  wants."  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  man  was  some- 
what taken  aback  and  would  have  given  quite  a  lot  to  have  found 
the  cowboys  who  had  given  him  a  "bum  steer." 

But  to  return  to  the  days  of  the  range;  the  line  riding  in 
winter,  on  cold  and  disagreeable  days,  was  something  that  would 
try  men's  souls.  The  life  of  the  cowboy  was  by  no  means  a 
picnic. 

It  was  a  life  that  had  much  of  the  hum-drum  in  it  as  well  as 
the  moments  of  fun  and  excitement.  The  class  of  men  who 
followed  it  were  not  much  different  than  the  ordinary  ones,  whom 
we  meet  on  the  frontier.  The  writer  has  been  all  his  life  from 
early  boyhood  a  cowman,  a  ranchman,  if  you  will.  He  never  saw 
the  peculiar  class  of  people  of  whom  the  story  writers  tell. 

The  fact  is  the  cowboy  was  almost  human,  as  will  be  seen 
today,  if  you  will  try  to  get  next  to  him  and  not  be  afraid. 

In  the  last  legislature,  in  Montana,  we  had  Senators  John 
Edwards,  L.  B.  Taylor,  Meadors,  Featherly  and  McCone.     It 


52  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

is  said  that  you  could  actually  approach  these  men  and  talk  to 
them  without  having  your  hand  on  your  gun.  These  men  were 
noted  cowboys  and  cowmen.  Even  the  late  Governor  of 
Wyoming,  now  Senator,  John  B.  Kendrick,  was  a  cowboy. 

They  can  even  run  autos  and  dance  the  Turkey  Trot  with 
the  good-looking  girls  who  most  do  congregate  at  Helena  when 
the  legislature  is  in  session  (at  least  some  of  them  can),  and 
have  not  killed  any  one  for  such  a  long  time  that  if  you  were 
to  ask  them  when  their  last  great  scrap  came  off  they  might  even 
lie  to  you  and  tell  you  they  never  killed  a  man. 

But  I  will  tell  you  this,  these  same  men — men  who  are  at  the 
heads  of  affairs  in  Montana  could,  had  they  have  wished,  in 
those  range  days  when  they  were  working  as  hard  as  men  can 
work,  for  "cattle  punching"  was  hard  work — could  have  taken 
time  to  have  thought  up,  and  had  brains  with  which  things  could 
have  been  invented,  to  make  the  tenderfoot  story-hunter  see  many 
things  that  were  the  exceptions  rather  than  the  rule. 

When  you  take  into  consideration  that  Charlie  Russell,  the 
great  cowboy  artist;  Frank  Linderman,  the  poet  and  author; 
Wallace  Coburn,  the  movie  picture  actor,  and  Senator  B.  D. 
Phillips,  the  foot-racer,  cowman,  politician,  sheepman  and  mil- 
lionaire miner,  were  all  cowboys  at  some  time  in  their  lives,  you 
can  see  that  you  could,  had  you  been  at  all  susceptible,  stung  by 
some  of  the  original  dope  they  could  have  mixed  for  you. 

If  these  fellows  didn't  suit  you,  tackle  young  Dr.  Treacy  of 
Helena,  Chub  Reed  of  the  Big  Flat,  Jay  Rhodes  of  Harlem, 
George  Barrows  of  Chinook,  Bob  Stuart  of  the  Reservation  or 
Frank  Landon  and  Tommy  Flynn  of  the  P.  &  O.  bunch.  Stung, 
yes,  so  badly  that  you  could  not  tell  the  truth  again  if  you  saw  it 
coming  up  the  road  in  less  than  nothing. 

It  was  in  the  fertile  brains  of  just  such  men  as  these  that  the 
great  (?)  cowboy  stories  have  gone  out  to  the  gullible  readers  of 
the  east. 

It  was  always  a  wonder  to  me  that  any  of  the  cowboys  ever 
lived  to  grow  up  as  there  were  so  many  shooting  scrapes  (?) 
The  boys  were  young  and  full  of  life — as  it  took  a  red-blooded 
fellow  to  follow  the  trail;  no  place  for  a  weakling. 

They  had  their  dances,  which  would  be  held  as  soon  as 
there  were  women  enough  to  form  a  quadrille. 

They  even  might  indulge  in  the  stag  dance  in  order  to  keep 
in  practice.  No  doubt  horses  were  run  to  test  their  speed  and, 
of  course,  there  would  be  no  interest  to  the  onlooker  unless  he  had 
a  wager  up  as  to  results. 

The  bucking  horse  held  out  a  little  diversion  to  the  onlooker 
but  no  particular  fun  for  the  chief  actor — no  matter  what  he  may 
say  to  the  contrary. 


■1  K  I  »_Jl-  ' 


-      ~ 


JAY    RHOADS. 
A  well-known  Cowboy  of  Blaine  County. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  53 

I  am  led  to  believe  that  once  in  a  while  a  little  game  of  stud 
or  draw-power  might  have  been  indulged  in  to  pass  away  the 
evening  in  the  bunkhouse,  not  for  love  of  the  money  but  for  the 
excitement.  Certainly  some  of  the  boys  would  go  to  the  little 
town  and  shoot  it  up — but  mostly  up — that  is,  their  guns  would 
be  held  at  such  an  angle  that  there  was  no  danger  from  the 
bullet  unless  it  fell  on  someone.  Some  of  them  got  full  at  times 
and  much  wordy  ammunition  was  fired  point  blank  at  a  mark 
which  received  no  particular  injury  from  the  discharge. 

Yes  these  were  the  cowboy  days  and  to  prove  to  you  how 
they  could  play  their  pranks  for  the  unsophisticated,  I  will  relate 
a  few  of  the  incidents  that  have  come  to  my  notice.  One  of 
them  I  will  put  under  the  following  caption: 

How  We  Got  Rid  of  a  Tenderfoot. 

"He  was  a  great  big,  finely-built  fellow  who  had  recently 
graduated  from  a  Chicago  college  but  as  he  had  fallen  off  so  that 
he  did  not  weigh  more  than  220  pounds  his  dad  thought  he  needed 
a  rest  cure. 

"Dad  went  to  see  the  Rosenbaum  Brothers,  the  livestock 
commission  men,  and  asked  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  if  he 
would  not  try  and  find  a  place  where  his  darling  could  go  and 
camp  out  and  receive  at  the  same  time  the  attention  due  his 
birth. 

"Rosenbaum  was  well  acquainted  with  several  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Bearpaw  pool  and  wrote  to  Stadler  and  Kaufman,  and 
others,  to  get  their  consent  to  allow  the  boy  to  come  and  accept 
the  hospitality  (?)  of  their  cow  camp.  Of  course  a  request  of 
this  kind  was  soon  granted  and  the  young  fellow  came  to  Chinook. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  the  year  before  active  operations  began 
for  roundup.  George  Barrows  was  foreman  but  he  stayed  in 
Chinook  and  allowed  Jay  Rhodes  and  Frank  Owens  to  look  out 
for  the  camp.  Owens  was  really  a  bad  man  from  Texas  who  had 
used  his  gun  or  knife  with  serious  effect  several  times. 

'The  Chicago  boy  was  taken  to  camp  to  become  a  guest,  as 
he  thought,  and  that  the  cowboys  were  to  make  his  days,  days  of 
pleasure  and  his  nights  long  dreams  of  bliss. 

'The  cowboys  rebelled  at  this  as  it  is  needless  to  say  that  they 
could  not  see  any  good  reason  why  they  should  play  flunky  to 
some  one  who  was  able  to  take  care  of  himself. 

"Jay  happened  to  be  in  Chinook  one  day  and  he  called 
Barrows'  attention  to  the  fact  that  their  guest  was  too  exacting 
and  they  did  not  enjoy  his  company.  George  said:  'Why  don't 
you  get  rid  of  him  in  some  way?  Don't  kill  him,  but  make  it  so 
disagreeable  for  him  that  he  will  quit.' 


54  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

"The  first  thing  they  did  was  to  take  him  off  on  the  range 
one  day  and  ride  off  and  leave  him  and  he  was  two  days  finding 
camp  again.     They  would  try  all  kinds  of  things  but  he  stuck. 

"Shortly  after  losing  him  on  the  range,  Owens  went  to 
Chinook  and  got  into  trouble  with  a  fellow  and  cut  him  severely 
in  the  abdomen.  He  rode  back  to  camp  expecting  that  the 
authorities  might  come  at  any  time  and  take  him,  although,  in 
this  particular  case,  he  was  not  the  aggressor.  When  Chicago 
learned  that  Owens  was  really  a  bad  man  he  began  to  fear  him. 
Owens  would  intimate  that  the  water  bucket  was  empty  or  the 
fuel  gone  and  big  boy  would  hustle  and  see  that  they  were 
replenished. 

"Cook  would  come  in  and  make  a  statement  that  breakfast 

was  waiting  and  that  it  was  time  that  the  S had  better  get 

up.  The  way  they  had  of  flying  into  their  clothes  was  a  caution. 
Jay  found  out  that  Chicago  was  deathly  afraid  of  rattlesnakes. 
Near  the  camp,  which  was  located  near  the  Snake  Creek  battle 
field,  is  a  rocky  butte  that  was  the  den  of  snakes.  Jay  went  up 
one  evening  and  killed  a  good  big  fat  fellow,  as  he  wished  to  see 
how  persuasive  it  might  be  in  getting  rid  of  their  guest.  He  put 
it  in  one  of  Chicago's  boots  and  as  the  cook  was  in  on  the  play 
they  were  to  be  routed  out  in  haste  the  next  morning.  In  he 
came  early  and  said :  'You  fellows  turn  out  in  a  hurry  as  I  have 
a  hunch  that  the  officers  are  coming.'  This  language  was  couched 
in  very  explicit  if  not  complimentary  terms,  so  the  boys  jumped 
up  and  hurried  into  their  clothes.  Chicago  thrust  one  of  his  feet 
into  the  boot  that  was  empty  and  tried  to  get  the  other  on  but 
found  he  was  not  able  to  do  so,  so  he  turned  it  up  and  the  big 
rattler  fell  at  his  feet  in  such  a  way  that  the  head  was  toward 
him. 

'The  big  fellow  said:  'Oh,  my  God,'  and  fell  over  in  a 
dead  faint  on  the  bunk,  to  be  drenched  by  the  cook  with  two 
buckets  of  cold  water  from  the  spring.  He  was  brought  to  and 
told  that  he  should  act  more  manly  in  face  of  danger  and  not 
faint.  He  ordered  his  horse  so  he  could  go  to  Chinook  to  see  the 
doctor  before  the  poison  could  take  effect.  The  doctor  could 
find  no  evidence  of  a  bite  so  the  young  fellow  rode  back  to  camp 
and  packed  his  grip,  no  longer  in  need  of  a  rest  (?)  cure  in  a 
Montana  cow  camp." 

Another  story  gives  the  same  side  to  the  life  of  the  cowboy. 

How  We  Were  Double  Crossed. 

"Quite  a  number  of  years  ago,"  Jay  said,  "I  was  foreman  of 
the  T  U,  which  had  its  headquarters  on  Cow  creek,  south  of  the 
Bear's  Paw  mountains.     I  received  a  letter,  one  day,  couched  in 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  55 


'\ijii 


.  I   ..'-.!_ 


the  nicest  language  I  ever  saw,  from  a  party  who  wished  to  get 
the  job  of  cooking  in  our  camp.  The  truth  of  it  is  we  had  a  good 
cook  and  did  not  want  to  change. 

"The  letter  went  on  to  explain  that  the  writer  had  cooked  for 
bishops  and  others  high  in  the  ecclesiastical  profession — and  that 
he  was  not  alone  a  concocter  of  special  viands — but  was  an  enter- 
tainer of  no  mean  talents  as  he  was  a  performer  on  musical  instru- 
ments, as  well  as  a  vocalist.  He  hove  in  sight  almost  as  soon  as 
his  letter. 

"A  cowman  who  had  a  horse  deal  on  down  in  the  breaks  of 
the  Missouri  happened  into  camp  that  night  with  a  box  of  cigars 
and  a  bottle  of  whiskey.  The  cigars  were  opened,  the  cork  pulled 
and  all  invited  to  fall  to  and  help  themselves. 

'The  new  man  was  asked  to  take  a  drink  but  he  declined, 
saying  he  never  indulged.  Then  one  of  the  boys  asked  him  to 
sing  a  song  for  their  entertainment.  To  this  he  replied  he  could 
not  without  his  music.  'Certainly  you  can  sing  something,'  his 
tormentor  said. 

"So  he  sang  'Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee'  and  'Rock  of  Ages.' 
(Very  appropriate  in  such  a  gang  and  at  such  a  time.)  One  of 
the  boys  who  was  as  full  of  hell  as  needs  be,  staggered  over  and 
requested  the  singer  to  take  a  drink,  at  the  same  time  pouring  a 
small  amount  of  whiskey  into  a  small  cup  that  was  on  the  table. 
He  declined  with  thanks.  The  cowpuncher  did  not  take  kindly 
to  this  so  he  pulled  a  big  gun  from  some  place  about  his  person 
and  pointing  it  at  the  party  asked  him  if  he  would  not  have  a 
drink  with  him.  'Certainly  I  will  drink,'  was  his  reply.  Several 
times  he  felt  it  unhealthy  to  refuse  the  drink  and  the  same  influ- 
ence got  him  to  smoke  his  first  cigar.  It  only  required  a  few 
moments  for  the  whiskey  and  cigar  to  work  to  such  an  extent  that 
he  could  no  longer  hold  a  grip  on  something  for  which  he  never 
had  a  desire,  so  he  rushed  to  the  hitching  post  and  in  his  agony 
called  on  his  god  to  forgive  him  for  having  been  compelled  to 
become  drunk  through  force  and  to  forgive  him  for  having  been 
found  in  such  company. 

"It  was  now  made  up  by  the  punchers  that  one  of  them,  a 
son  of  one  of  the  owners  and  now  a  prominent  doctor  (Treacy) 
of  Helena  should  take  the  part  of  the  stranger. 

"When  the  next  meal  was  called  the  young  doctor  requested 
the  bad  man  to  pass  the  bread,  to  which  no  attention  was  paid. 

Another  request  was  made  and  the  reply  came  back  'Go  to  h 

you  S I  wouldn't  pass  you  anything.' 

'This  unwarranted  assault  brought  forth  words  from  each 
that  could  only  be  satisfied  by  the  death  of  one  or  the  other. 
There  was  only  one  gun  in  camp  and  that  belonged  to  me,  but 
the  new  man  did  not  know  that.     There  were  only  two  cartridges 


56  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

on  the  place.  The  duelists  went  out  of  doors  and  I  gave  orders 
for  all  of  the  boys  to  stay  at  the  table.  Soon  two  shots  were 
fired  and  Holmes  fell.  One  of  the  boys  had  rushed  into  the 
kitchen,  dipped  a  dishcloth  into  the  juice  of  some  raspberries,  went 
to  the  fallen  man,  bound  up  his  wound  which,  to  all  appearances, 
was  in  one  of  his  shoulders.  He  was  brought  into  the  cabin  and 
placed  on  his  bunk  and  I  led  the  reluctant  stranger  in  so  he  could 
look  at  the  poor  boy  who  was  about  to  pass  away  and  told  him 
to  forgive  him  for  the  ungentlemanly  act  of  forcing  him  to  take 
a  drink.  His  hand  gripped  my  arm  so  it  pained  me.  I  told  him 
I  was  sorry  that  the  thing  had  occurred  but  that  it  was  a  mighty 
tough  bunch  of  fellows  and  the  shooting  scrapes  were  of  frequent 
occurrence,  but  this  was  a  little  different  than  any  that  had  taken 
place  before,  and  as  Holmes  was  a  favorite,  the  boys  had  made  up 
their  minds  to  lynch  his  murderer,  and  as  he  was  more  or  less 
the  cause  of  the  trouble  they  would  no  doubt  hang  him  also.  My 
advice  was  for  him  to  go,  and  go  at  once. 

"It  is  needless  to  say  he  lit  out  and  camped  in  the  cowshed 
that  night  to  make  his  escape  the  next  day  to  the  reservation  where 
he  tried  to  find  Major  Logan,  one  of  the  members  of  the  firm, 
and  tell  him  of  the  horrible  thing  which  had  taken  place  on  Cow 
Creek.  Logan  was  in  Helena,  so  the  party  sent  word  to  Dr. 
Treacy  that  his  son  had  shot  and  probably  killed  one  of  the  other 
boys  and  that  the  place  had  become  noted  for  several  killings  of 
late  owing  to  the  particular  number  of  bad  men  who  had  found 
jobs  on  that  particular  ranch. 

'The  darned  fool  notified  the  Pinkerton  agency  of  the  affair. 
Logan,  to  whom  the  doctor  showed  the  telegram,  told  him  it  must 
be  a  fake,  gotten  up  for  some  reason  among  the  cowboys  for 
the  benefit  of  some  tenderfoot,  because  no  more  peaceable  bunch 
of  boys  rode  the  Milk  River  range. 

"I  followed  the  tenderfoot  into  Harlem  and  learned  that  he 
had  notified  the  Pinkerton  men  and  that  some  of  them  were  about 
to  come  and  investigate  and  that  Dr.  T.  was  to  come  from 
Helena.  I  at  once  sent  a  message  to  Logan  'Nothing  doing,' 
and  he  understood.  Our  friend  went  to  Canada  and  wrote  back 
that  the  cowboys  of  the  north  were  nowhere  as  bad  as  those  of 
Montana. 

"But  the  way  we  got  double-crossed  in  the  affair  was  this: 
We  had  one  rider  who  was  so  deaf  that  no  ordinary  conversation 
could  be  heard  by  him. 

"Our  cook  was  somewhat  of  a  josher  himself,  so  he  took 
Deafy  down  in  the  brush  and  explained  the  whole  plot  to  him 
and  told  him  to  take  the  shotgun  and  go  in  and  cover  Treacy 
and  ask  him  why  he  shot  young  Holmes.  We  were  all  lying 
there  in  our  bunks  talking  over  the  fun  we  had  with  the  tender- 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  57 

foot,  who  was  even  then  hiding  out  in  the  cow  shed,  when  in  came 
Deafy  with  the  biggest  shotgun  I  ever  saw  in  my  life  and  pointing 
it  at  Treacy  wanted  him  to  explain  why  he  had  shot  Holmes. 
Say,  you  never  in  your  born  days  saw  a  bunch  of  cowpunchers 
light  out  and  hit  the  high  places.  They  almost  tore  the  jamb  off 
the  door  trying  to  get  out,  at  the  same  time  with  Deafy  after  them. 

I  sure  was  some  scared  myself  and  rushed  for  the  cook  room, 
only  to  find  the  cook  doubled  up  with  laughter  at  the  exit  of  the 
bunch  of  bad  men  who  could  not  face  Deafy's  gun. 

"The  cook  had  double-crossed  us." 

A  great  many  people  wonder  why  all  who  entered  the  cattle 
business  in  the  early  days  of  Montana  did  not  become  rich.  There 
were  several  reasons  and  some  of  them  were  the  peculiar  climatic 
conditions.  One  might  have  had  a  nice  herd  of  cattle  and  the 
winter  of  some  one  year  would  take  their  all.  Then  the  rustler 
had  to  be  taken  into  consideration.  The  man  who  would  go  out 
and  gather  your  stock  and  kill  or  sell  it  or  who  would  change 
the  brand  was  mighty  hard  to  deal  with.  Then,  too,  the  distance 
from  market  made  the  prices  so  low  that  many  could  not  possibly 
continue  the  business. 

As  soon  as  the  sheep  man  came  the  cattle  man  thought  that 
he  could  no  longer  stay,  as  the  cattle  were  a  little  bit  disgusted 
with  the  scent  of  the  little  pest  with  the  golden  hoof.  Cattle 
have  become  used  to  staying  on  the  same  range  and  many  men 
who  once  fought  the  sheep  owner  are  now  raising  both  to  advan- 
tage. 

The  cattle  range  that  gave  way  to  the  sheep  and  his  herder 
is  now  the  home  of  the  Dry  Farmer,  where  all  kinds  of  stock  will 
be  raised,  if  one  is  to  make  a  success. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Sheep  Days. 


Men  who  would  not  attempt  to  take  a  dollar  away  from  you 
in  any  but  a  legitimate  way  would  take  a  chance  in  the  stock  busi- 
ness to  crush  your  very  existence,  if  possible,  by  using  all  the 
Government  range  that  you  had  formally  used  as  a  cattle  range 
for  their  sheep.  There  is  something  about  a  sheep  that  cattle  and 
horses  do  not  like.  Probably  it  is  the  scent.  Sheep  men  and 
cattle  men  have  had  their  wars  and  if  all  that  has  ever  occurred 
in  those  feuds  could  be  written  one  would  surely  have  much  of 
intense  interest. 

It  is  probably  the  manner  in  which  sheep  are  handled  that 
causes  the  destruction  of  the  range.  A  sheep,  if  left  to  its  own 
device,  will  have  a  tendency  to  build  up  rather  than  to  ruin  the 


58  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

grass.  One  can  not  leave  a  sheep  in  this  manner  as  it  would 
be  only  a  short  time  before  the  sheep  business  would  be  on  the 
bum  and  the  fur  business  would  be  a  poor  one. 

Now  as  to  the  first  sheep  in  Blaine  county.  It  does  not  appear 
to  be  possible  to  find  any  one  who  will  assert  that  he  knows  just 
who  the  man  was  who  tried  out  the  experiment.  Billy  Cochran 
says  that  in  1 888  or  '89  B.  G.  Olsen  had  sheep  in  the  section  that 
afterward  became  the  county.  All  others  seem  to  think  that  it 
may  be  possible  that  he  was  the  man.  T.  M.  Everett  says  he 
recalls  that  Nick  Beilenberg  and  Joe  Toomey  had  some  which 
they  tried  to  winter  on  the  Milk  river  just  below  the  mouth  of 
the  North  Fork  the  season  of  '89-90.  That  was  a  hard  winter 
and  their  losses  were  almost  complete.  Joe  Mosser  said  that  he 
could  not  say  for  sure  but  that  Frank  Sayer,  of  Benton,  and 
Olsen,  both  had  sheep  on  the  Milk  river  early  and  he  did  not 
recall  which  was  the  first.  The  writer  called  on  Mr.  Sayer  and 
he  said  that  some  one  had  them  before  he  did,  so  there  you  are. 

Now  the  sheep  business  today,  1917,  is  one  of  the  most 
prosperous  ones  in  which  men  have  ever  been  interested  since  the 
earliest  recollection  of  history,  in  the,  stock  business.  Wool  over 
fifty  cents,  fat  lambs  on  the  market  at  $1  7.50,  ewes  at  $18.00. 
That  it  is  now  good  is  not  saying  that  it  was  always  one  in  which 
a  person  could  engage  with  any  certainty  of  success. 

There  have  been  many  men  in  what  is  now  Blaine  county  and 
what  it  was  before  Phillips  county  was  cut  off  that  have  made 
good  in  the  business  and  are  today  the  prominent  men  of  the 
county  because  they  were  successful  in  their  undertakings. 

And  these  men  were  not  ones  who  were  born  with  a  silver 
spoon  in  their  mouths  but  were  born  with  a  desire  for  success  and 
with  a  determination  to  fight  it  out  along  any  line  in  which  they 
got  a  start  even  if  it  took  them  not  "all  summer"  but  many  win- 
ters and  summers. 

Jurgan  Kuhr,  now  one  of,  if  not  the  largest  sheep  man  in 
the  county,  began  in  a  very  small  way,  but  continued  till  today 
he  is  a  factor  in  the  county.  If  you  were  to  go  to  him  for  a 
story  of  his  success  he  would  tell  you  that  many  a  time  he  was 
not  sure  of  the  final  results.  The  Sprinkle  Brothers,  now  men 
of  wealth,  began,  so  the  writer  has  been  told,  as  herders  of  the 
"Little  fellow  with  the  golden  hoof." 

Senator  B.  D.  Phillips  had  at  one  time  probably  100,000 
running  at  large  on  the  ranges  of  northern  Montana  and  inside 
of  his  large  enclosures.  The  sheep  business  forced  these  men  to 
secure  large  tracts  of  land  at  prices  that  were  low  so  that  today 
their  land  holdings  would  make  them  rich. 

But  if  today  the  sheep  business  is  one  in  which  men  would 
like  to  engage  there  was  a  time  when  it  was  just  the  opposite. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  59 

Sheep  were  hardly  worth  anything,  as  their  wool  was  as  low  as 
six  cents  and  their  lambs  only  worth  what  a  pound  of  wool  is  now. 

Then  there  was  a  hazard  in  more  ways  than  one  attached  to 
the  business.  Out  there  some  place  on  the  northern  plains,  where 
the  grass  was  best,  you  had  taken  the  band  of  sheep  and  turned 
them  over  to  a  man,  to  whom,  if  he  wanted  to  borrow  fifty  dol- 
lars you  would  have  thought  twice.  But  he  was  one  in  whom  you 
had  more  or  less  confidence  as  you  expected  him  to  stay  with 
that  band  no  matter  what  condition  should  arise.  The  tall  grasses 
of  the  range  land  might  catch  on  fire  and  the  destruction  of  all 
you  had  would  only  mean  minutes.  Minn.  Cowan  told  the  writer 
of  one  prairie  fire  that  took  place  on  Woody  Island  creek.  Jurgan 
Muhr  had  a  band  of  sheep  out  in  that  country  when  one  day  a  fire 
started.  The  men  in  charge  rounded  them  up  and  were  trying  to 
get  them  to  the  bed  ground  and  would  then  try  and  fight  the  fire 
back.  All  their  efforts  proved  futile.  The  grass  was  only  about 
eight  inches  high  with  a  strong  wind  blowing,  but  h —  would  have 
been  a  cool  place  alongside  of  it.  The  loss  was  between  2300  and 
2400.  That  was  certainly  a  big  barbecue  that  Jurgan  had  not 
planned,  so  roast  mutton  was.  the  cheapest  thing  you  ever  saw. 

Minn  says:  "My  first  experience  in  the  sheep  business  was 
none  too  pleaant.  Shortly  after  I  began  to  herd  in  the  fall  of 
'93,  in  the  month  of  October,  a  big  blizzard  of  a  day  and  night 
came  up.  Everything  looked  alike  to  me  but  what  I  could  see  was 
snow,  snow,  snow  every  place.  There  was  no  use  in  leaving  the 
sheep  for  that  would  have  been  very  unwise  and  if  one  stayed 
there  would  be  a  chance  that  you  would  be  picked  up  as  soon  as 
the  storm  was  over  as  they  would  be  sure  to  hunt  for  the  band  as 
that  meant  money.  I  stayed  right  with  that  band  for  two  nights 
and  two  and  one-half  days.  Even  after  the  storm  quit  I  could 
not  find  camp.  Chris  Maloney  found  me  about  three  o'clock  the 
third  day.  I  had  all  the  sheep.  The  sheep  bedded  down  each 
night.  The  second  night  they  drifted  to  an  old  sheep  shed  where 
there  was  a  tent  but  no  bedding,  but  as  there  were  some  pelts  1 
managed  to  get  by.     It  never  occurred  to  me  to  leave  them." 

Scott  Cowan,  who  has  been  a  pretty  successful  sheep  man  in 
the  Milk  River  country,  has  had  many  and  varied  experiences. 
He  said:  'The  winters  were  by  no  means  all  bad  and  the  life 
of  the  herder  was  not  too  uncomfortable  during  normal  conditions. 
When  the  exceptionally  hard  ones  came,  much  suffering  came  to 
both  men  and  flocks.  I  remember  that  one  season  one  of  the  big 
sheep  men  moved  a  part  of  his  stock  to  Canada  and  did  not  get 
there  in  time  to  make  full  preparatoins  for  their  safety.  The 
result  was  a  very  heavy  loss.  The  next  spring  some  of  his  friends 
asked  him  if  his  loss  was  very  heavy  and  his  reply  was:  'No,  I 
saved  some  of  the  dogs  and  all  of  the  sheep  herders.'     I  recall  one 


60  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

winter  that  we  had  had  bad  luck  by  losing  our  dogs.  We  had 
to  take  out  snow  plows  and  clean  off  a  section  of  ground  so  the 
sheep  could  spread  out  and  feed.  If  the  conditions  were  at  all 
favorable  the  boys  would  take  their  blankets  and  stay  all  night. 
One  morning  for  some  reason  I  got  it  into  my  head  that  there 
would  be  trouble  if  we  took  the  sheep  to  any  great  distance  from 
home,  so  advised  that  it  should  not  be  done.  About  ten  it  cleared 
up  so  I  changed  my  mind  and  the  sheep  were  started.  When 
we  left  home  the  sun  was  shining  as  brightly  as  could  be.  There 
was  a  coulee  at  some  distance  from  the  house  in  which  we  wanted 
them  to  feed  as  the  grass  was  nice  and  thick.  We  had  just  arrived 
on  the  feeding  grounds  when  it  began  to  cloud  up  and  in  a  very 
few  minutes  not  a  thing  could  be  seen.  I  told  my  brothers 
(Arthur,  Minn  and  George)  to  hold  them  and  I  would  go  to  the 
house  and  get  a  little  hay  and  that  there  would  probably  be  a 
chance  of  getting  them  back  to  the  sheds.  I  got  a  'half-breed' 
sled  and  loaded  on  a  little  hay  and  started  back  to  find  the  band, 
which  was  done  by  accident  as  I  had  Fred  Brockway,  then  only 
a  small  boy  with  me,  who  called  my  attention  to  the  trail  the  sheep 
had  made  while  being  driven  before  the  blizzard.  When  we 
found  the  boys  they  were  more  or  less  excited,  but  I  told  them 
to  take  it  easy  and  we  would  pull  through  all  right  as  we  had 
to  stay  any  way.  I  left  the  sled  at  one  end  and  we  tried  to  hold 
the  herd  by  walking  around  it.  We  could  not  see  one  another 
and  did  not  meet  unless  we  happened  to  come  to  the  sleigh  at 
the  same  time. 

"Along  about  evening  the  sheep  began  to  bleat  and  began  to 
take  interest  in  things  so  we  thought  we  could  get  them 
home  to  the  shed.  We  started  with  the  team  ahead  and  had 
only  gone  a  few  minutes  when  one  of  the  boys  shouted  that 
the  band  had  broken  in  two.  I  stopped  and  went  back  to  find 
that  the  tail  of  the  band  had  not  moved  at  all.  The  leaders  were 
about  two  hundred  yards  in  the  lead  so  we  had  to  get  the  two 
bunches  together  and  stay  with  them,  I  thought,  so  we  began  to 
do  so.  In  this  we  were  not  successful  because,  try  as  we  might, 
we  could  not  find  the  leaders  and  did  not  get  them  together  until 
we  came  to  Chris  Maloney's  place,  where  we  were  fortunate  to 
get  the  men  so  that  they  could  get  something  to  eat  and  to  put 
Fred  who  was,  as  I  have  said,  only  a  small  boy,  in  a  comfortable 
place  to  keep  him  from  freezing." 

Minn  says  of  the  same  storm :  "When  I  went  in,  Scott's  face 
was  so  badly  frozen  that  I  had  to  go  out  in  his  place.  I  had  to 
cut  off  his  mustache  so  he  could  close  his  mouth.  I  did  not  get 
back  till  about  midnight  though  the  band  was  only  about  one- 
quarter  of  a  mile  away  from  Maloney's  house.  The  next  day  we 
got  a  team  and  snow  plow  and  managed  to  get  them  to  our  place, 


*  s? :,"  *»ffl3Sta»K\?»^S 


CHIEF  JOSEPH. 

The  Indian  who  whipped  every  army  that  tried  to  capture  him,  not 
excepting  Miles,  whom  he  had  going  if  he  (Joseph)  had  made  one  rush  when 
the    buffalo    came    in    sight. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  61 

which  was  only  a  mile  and  a  half.  The  snow  was  probably  three 
feet  deep.  My  face  was  so  chilled  that  I  did  not  get  back  to  work 
for  over  a  week.  I  had  been  with  that  herd  all  that  night.  When 
a  man  does  a  thing  like  that  he  earns  all  he  ever  makes  in  the  sheep 
business.     That  was  on  the  5  th  day  of  February,  1895. 

That  was  not  the  only  bad  winter  we  had  up  in  that  country, 
for  the  winter  of  1906-7  my  brothers  gave  Gene  Aiken  $100  to 
take  a  little  grub  and  two  pitchforks  to  the  ranch  and  he  was  a 
week  making  to  Woody  Island  and  back  to  Harlem." 

After  one  of  these  hard  winters  the  lamb  crop  would  be  small 
as  the  mothers  would  have  no  nourishment  for  the  little  ones  when 
they  came.  The  season  of  lambing  was  one  always  to  be  dreaded 
as  extra  men  were  in  demand  and  they  were  often  hard  to  get  and 
sometimes  harder  to  keep.  When  a  person  has  property  that  gets 
its  start  from  the  foundation  such  as  lambs  that  do  not  come  to 
this  climate  strong  enough  to  know  there  own  mother,  or  worse 
yet,  a  fool  mother  that  does  not  know  its  own  offspring,  then  he 
surely  had  grief. 

This  article  is  not  to  educate  the  reader  in  sheep  raising  but 
to  give  the  story  in  a  vague  way  of  the  sheep  industry  in  our 
county.  A  book  could  be  filled  if  one  were  to  get  the  stories  of 
the  herders  who  have  braved  the  storms  of  an  Arctic  winter  for  a 
small  consideration,  to  protect  their  charge  from  the  wild  animals 
that  roved  the  range  or  from  the  terrible  blizzard  that  might  prove 
their  undoing.  We  do  not  hear  of  many  of  the  heroic  things  the 
sheep  herder  has  done  in  his  fight  for  life  and  in  the  sacrifices  he 
has  made  to  protect  the  property  placed  in  his  hands  but,  neverthe- 
less he  has  been  a  factor  in  the  upbuilding  of  many  of  the  fortunes 
in  Montana  today. 


CHAPTER   IX. 
The  Last  Stand  or  the  Battle  of  the  Bear's  Paw. 

The  last  battle  to  be  fought  between  the  Indians  and  the 
whites  in  Montana  was  commenced  September  30  and  finished  on 
October  5th,  1877,  on  Snake  Creek,  sixteen  miles  from  Chinook, 
now  in  Blaine  county. 

In  order  to  give  the  reader  who  may  have  never  heard  the 
causes  that  led  up  to  this  battle  a  clear  view  it  will  be  necessary 
to  go  back  and  explain  the  conditions  prior  to  this  last  stand  of  the 
Nez  Perces. 

Our  first  knowledge  of  these  Indians  came  to  us  through  Lewis 
and  Clark.  The  impression  left  by  these  explorers  was  one  which 
gave  due  meed  of  praise  to  them;  as  it  tells  of  their  friendliness  to 


62  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

them  and  to  the  expedition  under  them.  These  men  concluded  a 
treaty  of  peace  that  lasted  through  all  the  stirring  times  of  north- 
western border  settlement. 

The  Nez  Perces  were  always  proud  that  they  never  shed  one 
drop  of  white  man's  blood. 

The  land  that  they  claimed  and  held  at  that  time  was  roughly 
bounded  by  saying  that  it  contained  or  comprised  all  the  country 
between  the  Bitter  Root  mountains  on  the  East,  the  Blue  Moun- 
tains on  the  West,  the  Salmon  river  from  below  the  mouth  of 
White  Bird  on  the  South,  and  the  North  Palouse  on  the  North. 

As  Dr.  Moody  says:  "It  was  a  land  of  natural  advantage, 
warm  in  winter,  cool  in  summer,  abundant  grass,  plenty  of  water, 
hills  covered  with  game  and  all  that  would  make  it  a  lovely  land 
in  which  to  reside,  to  the  white  as  well  as  the  Red  Man."  It  was 
mighty  hard  to  give  this  land  up  to  the  behest  of  the  white  man. 

"When  the  west-bound  emigrant  reached  the  Nez  Perce 
country  he  felt  safe,  for  at  no  time  did  these  people  harass  travel- 
ers as  did  the  tribes  of  the  East." 

It  was  only  after  a  number  of  years  when  the  whites  looked 
upon  the  broad  acres  with  covetous  eyes  that  trouble  began. 

"Before  the  dawn  of  history,  of  them,  the  Nez  Perces  had 
been  ruled  by  a  dynasty  of  chiefs  of  which  the  Joseph  of  our  day 
was  the  last.  His  immediate  predecessor  was  his  father,  called 
by  the  whites,  'Old  Joseph,'  to  distinguish  him  from  his  son." 

The  Oregon  Trail  ran  through  the  land  owned  by  these  peo- 
ple, and  all  together  too  soon  for  the  Indian,  the  emigrant  turned 
his  cattle  loose  along  some  rippling  stream  where  he  built  his  cabin, 
fenced  the  land  and  began  to  turn  the  sod.  This  last  act,  to 
the  Indian,  was  desecration,  as  the  earth  was  his  mother  and  the 
white  man  had  wounded  her  bosom.  Not  alone  did  he  do  that 
but  he  was  coming  in  such  numbers  that  he  was  taking  the  grass 
that  the  Indian  needed  to  feed  his  ponies. 

"Old  Joseph"  had  called  the  Indian  Agent's  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  whites  were  taking  their  land  and  eating  their  sub- 
stance, but  this  did  no  good.  More  whites  came  and  clashes  took 
place  in  which  an  Indian  was  killed.  (Remember  this  fact,  the 
whites  did  not  only  take  the  land  but  they  were  the  first  to  shed 
blood.) 

The  valley  of  the  Wallowa  was  a  particular  section  that  the 
Indians  desired  to  hold.  A  treaty  was  made  and  signed  June  1  1 , 
1855,  by  some  of  the  Indians  but  never  by  "Old  Joseph,"  who 
was  the  one  who  was  the  most  interested.  The  old  chief  died  in 
1 872  bequeathing  the  reins  of  tribal  government  to  Young  Joseph, 
at  that  time  about  thirty-five  years  of  age. 

Before  the  old  chief  died  he  called  his  son  to  him  and  exacted 
a  promise  that  the  Wallowa  should  never  be  given  up. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  63 

Ere  Columbus  had  set  sail  for  India,  these  people  had  lived 
in  their  beautiful  valley  by  the  flowing  water.  Their  dead  had 
been  placed  in  consecrated  ground  which  had  been  moistened  by 
the  tears  of  loved  ones.  No  other  sun  ever  shone  as  bright  as  did 
this  of  theirs.  They  may  have  been  savages  but  they  were  men, 
as  Gibbon  found  to  his  cost,  as  he  was  whipped  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ruby.  They  were  never  untrue  to  their  fathers  or  their  tradi- 
tions, as  is  evinced  by  their  having  taken  the  war  path.  No  party 
of  men,  since  the  world  began,  ever  put  up  a  more  glorious  effort 
for  independence  than  did  the  Red  Men  of  the  valley  of  Wallowa. 

Troubles  of  various  kinds  took  place  for  years  and  culminated 
in  a  war  that  began  in  June  and  ended  in  October,  1877. 

The  first  man  to  be  killed  was  Richard  Devine,  an  old  miner 
who  lived  alone  in  a  cabin  above  the  mouth  of  the  White  Bird, 
on  the  Salmon. 

That  took  place  on  June  15th.  Col.  Perry,  who  was  sent 
after  the  Indians,  was  defeated  on  the  1  7th  of  June  and  General 
Howard  started  in  to  clean  out  the  Indians.  Several  engagements 
took  place  in  Idaho  in  which  the  Red  Men  showed  their  ability 
in  a  most  signal  way.  They  came  to  the  conclusion  to  leave 
the  land  which  they  had  for  so  many  years  called  home  and  go 
through  Montana  to  Canada,  where  they  thought  it  possible  to 
establish  a  new  residence. 

That  they  had  not  thought  of  mistreating  the  people  of  Mon- 
tana in  making  their  passage  through  this  Territory,  is  now  known. 

As  there  were  two  battles  and  several  skirmishes  in  the  section 
now  known  as  the  State  of  Montana  we  must  give  something  of 
them  in  order,  as  was  above  mentioned,  to  enlighten  the  reader. 

I  know  of  no  more  interesting  matter  to  publish  in  respect  to 
their  coming  to  Montana  than  the  one  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Harlan  of 
Como,  who  was  one  of  the  men  who  saw  all  that  he  has  herein 
described. 

The  Fiasco  at  "Fort  Fizzle"  on  the  Lolo  Trail. 

Early  in  July  in  1 877  word  was  brought  to  us  in  Western 
Montana  that  Chief  Joseph  and  his  band  of  Nez  Perce  Indians 
had  broken  out  over  in  Idaho  across  the  mountains  from  the  Bitter 
Root  valley. 

"Aggravated  and  enraged  by  the  encroachments  and  depre- 
dations of  some  of  the  lawless  whites,  the  Indians  had  killed  some 
of  the  settlers,  burned  their  homes  and  were  sure  enough  on  the 
'war  path.' 

"After  some  inconclusive  fights  with  the  soldiers  sent  to  sub- 
due them,  the  Indians,  some  900  strong,  counting  men,  women  and 
children,  but  all  well  armed,  started  over  the  Lolo  trail,  their 


64  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

objective  point  being  the  British  possessions  where  they  evidently 
expected  protection  and  immunity  from  arrest  and  punishment  for 
their  crimes  (  ?) . 

'They  were  pursued  at  a  safe  distance  by  Maj.  General 
Howard,  Col.  Miller  and  about  600  soldiers  of  the  regular  army. 
The  Indians  sent  couriers  into  the  Bitter  Root  valley  asking  the 
Flatheads  to  help  them  fight  and  exterminate  the  whites.  Chief 
Charlos  not  only  refused,  but  said  he  and  his  tribe  would  fight  on 
the  side  of  the  settlers  if  necessary. 

'The  Nez  Perces  then  sent  word  that  if  they  were  allowed 
to  go  through  the  valley  peaceably,  they  would  not  fight  the  whites 
or  destroy  their  property.  No  answer  was  made  to  this  offer  as 
no  one  had  authority  to  make  any  such  agreement. 

"In  the  meantime  the  settlers  of  the  Bitter  Root,  becoming 
much  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  their  families,  placed  them  in  old 
Fort  Owens  at  Stevensvilie  and  two  new  sod  forts  which  they 
hastily  constructed  at  Corvallis  and  Skalkaho. 

'The  Indians  were  now  reported  to  be  on  the  Montana  side 
of  the  mountains  and  they  finally  encamped  on  Woodman's 
Prairie,  some  ten  or  twelve  miles  up  the  Lolo  from  the  Bitter  Root 
river.  We  learned  that  the  soldiers  from  Fort  Missoula  were 
going  up  to  meet  them  and  attempt  to  turn  them  back  or  obtain 
their  surrender  or  fight  them,  as  the  case  might  be.  On  a  Tuesday 
morning  35  men,  pioneer  settlers  of  the  valley,  left  Fort  Owens 
for  the  Lolo.  They  were,  of  course,  well  armed  and  took  with 
them  their  blankets  and  a  few  days'  provisions  tied  to  their  saddles. 

"About  where  the  town  of  Lolo  now  is  they  met  Captain 
Rawn  in  command  of  25  soldiers.  With  him  were  Captain 
Logan,  Lieutenants  English  and  Woodruth  and  two  others  whose 
names  I  do  not  recall. 

"John  Robertson,  Cortez  Goff  and  I  were  delegated  to  have 
a  talk  with  Captain  Rawn  and  explain  our  situation  to  him.  We 
told  him  of  the  defenseless  condition  of  the  valley;  of  the  hundreds 
of  women  and  children,  to  say  nothing  of  our  property  that  would 
be  at  the  mercy  of  the  Indians  if  infuriated  by  an  attack  that  would 
not  and  could  not  be  a  defeat  for  them. 

"Captain  Rawn,  with  somewhat  of  that  contemptuous  manner 
that  too  often  characterizes  regular  army  officers  in  their  inter- 
course with  mere  citizens,  would  hardly  listen  to  us,  but  did  say 
that  he  had  been  ordered  to  meet  the  Nez  Perces  and  turn  them 
back  or  fight  them  and  he  proposed  to  do  so  with  or  without  our 
help,  and  added  that  'he  might  as  well  throw  up  his  commission 
if  he  did  otherwise.' 

"We  realized  that  a  fight  with  the  Indians,  whether  by  sol- 
diers or  citizens  would  have  the  effect  to  make  them  hostile 
towards  us,  so  we  decided  to  go  with  the  soldiers  and  naturally 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  65 

placed  ourselves  under  the  direction  and  command  of  the  regular 
officers. 

"Word  was  being  sent  out  from  Missoula  to  all  western  Mon- 
tana for  help,  and  for  them  to  come  running.  The  call  was  nobly 
responded  to,  for  in  two  or  three  days  several  hundred  well  armed 
men  from  Missoula,  Philipsburg,  Bear  Gulch  and  Deer  Lodge, 
together  with  90  out  of  the  1 00  settlers  of  the  Bitter  Root  valley 
were  at  the  front  up  the  Lolo. 

"But  to  return  to  my  story,  on  that  Tuesday  night  the  soldiers 
and  citizens — 60  men  in  all — rode  ten  miles  up  the  Lolo  and  went 
into  permanent  camp  in  the  heavy  timber  in  a  narrow  part  of  the 
canyon  and  about  three  miles  below  where  the  Indians  were 
camped  on  the  big  prairie. 

"We  immediately  began  felling  trees  and  building  log  breast- 
works, and  with  the  help  of  new  arrivals,  had  in  two  or  three 
days  a  very  strong  barricade  across  the  gulch,  behind  which  we 
felt  secure  from  an  attack  in  front,  the  only  direction  from  which 
the  commanding  officer  seemed  to  think  an  attack  possible. 

'There  was  no  protection  from  the  cross-fire  of  the  Indians, 
dodging  from  tree  to  tree  on  the  mountain  sides  and  it  was  the 
belief  of  most  of  us,  that  in  case  of  a  fight,  especially  before  our 
reinforcements  arrived,  it  would  have  been  another  Custer 
massacre. 

"On  Thursday  Governor  Potts  came  up  and  with  an  escort 
of  about  fifty  men  went  to  hold  a  pow  wow  with  the  chiefs  at 
the  lower  end  of  the  prairie  about  half  way  between  the  opposing 
camps.  Here  we  were  met  by  an  equal  number  of  Indians  who 
came  down  and  stopped  in  line  a  hundred  yards  from  us.  Gov- 
ernor Potts  with  Captain  Brown  rode  out  and  met  Chief  Joseph 
and  Looking  Glass  with  their  interpreters  and  talked  for  a  half 
hour  or  more.  The  situation  was  just  a  little  bit  tense  and  strained 
as  we  sat  facing  each  other  with  guns  ready  for  instant  use  and 
each  side  watching  for  the  first  sign  of  treachery.  We  remembered 
the  fate  of  General  Canby  when  killed  by  the  Modocs  in  a  similar 
situation,  but  nothing  happened  and  we  rode  back  to  repeat  the 
performance  the  next  day. 

"Nothing  came  of  the  meetings,  the  Indians  refusing  to  turn 
back  or  surrender,  so  the  Governor  went  back  to  Missoula  and 
left  the  situation  as  he  found  it. 

"The  Indians  had  announced  that  they  would  move  Saturday 
morning,  but  it  was  as  yet  unknown  to  us  whether  they  would 
turn  back  or  go  north  over  a  trail  that  would  bring  them  out  near 
Frenchtown,  or  come  down  headed  for  the  Bitter  Root,  with  the 
almost  certainty,  so  far  as  we  knew,  of  a  battle. 

"Early  in  the  morning  I  was  sent  with  five  men  as  an  advance 
picket  to  a  point  a  half  mile  from  camp  and  high  up  the  mountain 


66  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

side  to  watch  and  report  the  movements  of  the  hostile  camp. 
Lieutenant  English  loaned  me  his  field  glasses  and  we  took  a 
position  where  we  had  a  good  view  of  their  position. 

"About  nine  o'clock  I  sent  word  that  the  Indians  were  driving 
in  their  horses  and  breaking  camp.  Another  man  was  sent  in 
when  it  was  seen  that  they  had  packed  up  and  had  started  down 
the  valley  toward  us.  By  the  time  we  had  decided  to  go  in,  the 
Indians  were  below  us  and  between  us  and  camp,  so  we  had  to 
make  a  hurried  detour  and  dodge  among  the  trees  to  avoid  them. 

"I  reported  to  Captain  Rawn  that  the  Indians  were  beginning 
to  climb  the  ridge  a  fourth  of  a  mile  above  our  camp  and  were 
evidently  going  around  us.  He  replied  that  it  would  be  impossible 
for  them  to  go  around  on  that  steep  hillside  and  it  was  only  a  scout 
that  I  saw,  and  when  I  said  I  saw  squaws  and  children  with  camp 
stuff  going  up,  he  turned  back  into  his  tent  with  the  insulting 
remark  that  'The  trouble  in  this  camp  is  that  there  are  too  many 
God  Almightys  in  it'  As  partly  explaining  such  conduct  and 
language,  I  will  say  that  early  that  morning,  Bill  McQuirk,  a 
saloon  keeper  of  Missoula,  had  brought  in  a  demijohn  of  whisky 
which  was  on  tap  in  the  headquarter's  tent,  with  the  result  that 
when  we  finally  broke  camp  an  hour  later  the  commanding  officer 
could  hardly  sit  in  his  saddle  and  the  second  in  command  could 
not,  but  was  hauled  out,  stretched  out  upon  an  army  wagon  load 
of  tents  and  bedding. 

"Quite  a  number  of  Flathead  Indians  were  with  us  and 
showed  their  true  friendship  by  preparing  to  fight  with  us  in  the 
expected  battle.  They  had  white  cloths  tied  around  their  heads 
so  we  could  distinguish  between  friend  and  foe.  I  well  remember 
Delaware  Jim's  exhortation:  'Shoot  low  and  kill  horse,  then  shoot 
Injun,'  which  would  have  been  good  advice  if  the  Nez  Perces 
had  been  fools  enough  to  attack  in  front,  and  on  horseback. 

"As  the  Indians  were  passing  around,  a  detachment  of  thirty 
or  forty  citizens  went  out  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  and  a 
little  way  up,  to  see  that  no  surprise  attack  was  made  from  that 
direction,  but  with  the  exception  of  a  few  stray  shots  fired  from 
the  hill  into  the  barricade,  no  hostile  demonstration  was  made,  and 
the  whole  body  of  Indians  came  down  into  the  valley  a  mile 
below  us. 

"A  half  hour  later  we  were  ordered  to  mount  and  were  hurried 
down  the  canyon  after  them.  Several  miles  below  we  were  halted 
in  the  edge  of  a  wood  facing  a  half  mile  of  prairie  where  we 
could  see  the  Indians  in  the  timber  on  the  far  side,  and  we  were 
told  that  here  was  to  be  the  battle  sure  enough.  We  stood  in 
battle  line  for  a  half  hour  expecting  an  order  to  charge,  but  none 
came.  It  was  soon  evident  that  the  Indians  had  disappeared  so 
we  were  led  peacefully  down  the  road. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  67 

"Until  we  reached  the  junction  of  the  Lolo  with  the  Bitter 
Root  valley,  none  of  us  knew  which  way  the  Indians  would  turn; 
whether  they  would  go  by  way  of  Missoula  or  by  the  Bitter  Root. 
The  former  was  the  shorter  route  but  was  much  more  thickly 
settled.  When  we  reached  the  mouth  of  the  canyon  we  found  that 
the  Indians  had  gone  up  the  Bitter  Root  valley  and  right  there  the 
regular  soldiers  and  all  the  volunteers  from  Missoula,  Philipsburg 
and  Deer  Lodge  turned  north  to  Missoula  and  left  the  Bitter 
Root  to  its  fate. 

"We  did  not  understand  then,  nor  do  we  know  now,  why 
Captain  Rawn,  with  more  than  five  hundred  men  to  back  him, 
should  decline  to  fight  that  day,  while  only  a  few  days  before  he 
had  been  so  anxious  to  open  battle  with  only  twenty-five.  Whether 
it  was  under  the  advice  of  Governor  Potts,  or  under  the  influence 
of  Bill  McQuirk's  demijohn,  has  never  been  made  public. 

'This  ended  the  'Fiasco  at  Fort  Fizzle,"  on  the  Lolo  Trail. 

"But  the  Bitter  Rooters  could  not  evade  all  the  responsibili- 
ties and  solve  their  problems  so  easily. 

"On  that  hot  Saturday  afternoon  there  were  cooped  up  in  Fort 
Owens  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight  women  and  children  with  just 
four  old  men  with  two  shotguns  to  protect  them,  while  in  the  two 
sod  forts  up  the  valley  there  were  probably  nearly  as  many  more. 

"Now  that  we  were  released  from  the  authority  of  Captain 
Rawn  and  knowing  that  we  could  have  no  outside  help  in  pro- 
tecting our  families  and  homes,  we  were  naturally  anxious  to  get 
past  the  Indians  and  beat  them  to  the  fort.  We  did  not  believe 
that  they  would  stop  and  camp  till  they  were  past  the  thickly 
settled  part  of  the  valley,  and  well  away  from  the  soldiers  and 
volunteer  citizens,  they  not  knowing,  so  we  thought,  that  the 
Bitter  Root  had  been  abandoned  by  all  but  her  own  men. 

"As  about  thirty  of  us,  including  just  two  from  Missoula, 
Judge  Stephens  and  Mr.  Kinney — afterwards  state  auditor — 
galloped  up  the  road  across  what  is  now  known  as  the  McLain  or 
McClay  flats,  we  decided  to  leave  the  west  side  road  near  where 
Florence  is  now,  and  cross  the  river  at  the  Eight  Mile  Ford,  thus 
avoiding  the  Indians.  What  was  our  surprise  as  we  topped  the 
Carlton  bench  to  see,  just  in  front  of  us,  the  whole  Indian  encamp- 
ment. 

"They  had  turned  their  horses  out  on  the  prairie  and  the 
squaws  were  busy  putting  up  their  lodges  on  both  sides  of  the  road. 
To  the  right  and  left  we  could  see  the  gleam  of  rifles  in  the  timber, 
while  in  front  were  hundreds  of  Indians  with  guns  in  their  hands, 
waiting. 

"We  halted,  and  realizing  that  we  could  neither  advance  or 
retreat,  without  their  consent,  and  that  to  fire  a  gun  meant  instant 
death  to  each  and  all  of  us,  we  sent  a  half-breed,  Alex  Matt,  to 


68  IN   THE   LAND   OF  CHINOOK 

their  camp  to  ask  Chief  Looking  Glass  to  come  down  and  talk 
with  us.  Now  it  is  known  that  while  Joseph  was  the  war  chief 
and  was  in  favor  of  fighting  the  whites  at  every  opportunity,  Look- 
ing Glass  was  the  peace  chief  and  was  in  command  of  the  whole 
expedition  while  on  the  march  and  it  was  his  influence  that  saved 
the  valley,  people  and  property,  from  destruction. 

"Looking  Glass  came  to  us  and  as  we  circled  around  him 
thirty  or  forty  warriors,  not  knowing  what  our  intentions  were, 
jumped  on  their  ponies  and  came  rushing  down  but  drew  up  a 
hundred  feet  or  so  from  us  and  watched  us. 

"Acting  as  spokesman  for  our  party  I  asked  the  chief  if  we 
could  go  through  his  camp  to  our  wives  and  children.  With  much 
sarcasm,  that  we  did  not  just  at  that  time  care  to  resent,  he 
replied:  'This  morning  when  you  were  many  and  strong  you 
wanted  to  fight,  but  now  that  you  are  few  you  want  to  go  home 
in  peace.'  With  much  more  in  the  same  vein  he  told  us,  at  last, 
that  we  could  go  through  his  camp  in  safety.  He  and  his  warriors 
then  rode  back  to  camp,  we  following  slowly  in  single  file. 

'The  Indians  were  lined  up  on  both  sides  of  the  road  with 
guns  in  their  hands,  probably  hoping  for  an  excuse  for  shooting 
us  down,  but  we  gave  them  none,  for  just  then  we  were  'too  proud 
to  fight,'  and  even  Bryan  himself  would  have  been  satisfied  with 
our  peaceful  attitude. 

"As  I  would  pass  a  particularly  ugly  group  in  Chief  Joseph's 
part  of  the  camp,  standing  with  their  guns  half-raised  and  with 
fingers  on  the  triggers,  I  could  feel  a  nervous  twitching  of  the 
muscles  of  my  back  that  belied  the  brave  front  I  was  putting  up. 

"As  we  passed  the  last  Redskin,  each  of  us  urged  his  horse 
to  a  lope  and  stopped  for  nothing  until  we  had  reached  the  fort, 
where  we  found  all  well  but  somewhat  anxious,  as  a  deserter  had 
brought  them  word  of  an  actual  battle  in  progress. 

'The  next  morning  we  took  possession  of  all  the  whisky  in 
the  saloons  in  Stevensville  and  locked  it  up  in  a  cellar  at  Fort 
Owen.  That  day  the  Indians  came  up  and  camped  opposite 
Stevensville.  They  came  into  town  and  announced  that  they 
wanted  supplies,  that  they  would  pay  for  them,  if  permitted,  but 
would  take  them  anyway. 

'The  merchants  of  Stevensville  were  much  criticised  for  sell- 
ing goods  to  hostile  Indians  but,  under  the  circumstances,  they  were 
certainly  justified. 

"Looking  Glass  sat  on  his  horse  in  the  main  street  of  the  town 
for  two  days  watching  that  none  of  his  people  started  trouble,  and 
on  one  occasion  jumped  off  and  jerked  a  quarrelsome  warrior  out 
of  a  store  and  sent  him  to  camp  across  the  river. 

"Having  obtained  their  needed  supplies  the  Indians  moved 
slowly  up  and  out  of  the  valley,  apparently  not  fearing  General 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  69 

Howard,  who  always  kept  several  days  behind  them.  It  was  a 
common  report,  at  the  time,  that  if  General  Howard  found  the 
camp  signs  too  fresh  he  would  stop  and  wait  a  day  or  two  and 
this  policy  was  followed  until  General  Miles  headed  them  off  and 
fought  them  to  a  surrender  in  the  Bear  Paw  mountains  near  the 
British  line.  In  that  battle  Chief  Looking  Glass,  the  tried  friend 
of  the  whites,  was  killed. 

"But  the  Indians  as  they  left  the  Bitter  Root  valley  (and  in 
going  through  which  they  destroyed  nothing)  were  not  aware  of 
the  rapid  approach  of  General  Gibbon,  who  was  bringing  a  few 
soldiers  from  Fort  Shaw,  picking  up  those  at  Fort  Missoula  and 
about  forty  whites  from  the  valley. 

"If  they  had  known  of  him  he  would  not  have  gotten  to  sur- 
prise them  in  his  attack  on  the  morning  of  August  9th  in  the  Big 
Hole  which,  though  a  surprise,  was  not  by  any  means  a  victory. 
That  is,  though,  another  chapter  in  the  story  of  Montana  for  some 
other  writer." 

Mr.  Harlan  is  a  high-class  citizen  of  Montana  who  would  not 
willingly  take  advantage  of  even  an  Indian.  He  has  given  a  true 
statement  of  one  of  those  things  not  generally  known — the  way 
the  Nez  Perces  treated  the  whites  in  the  Bitter  Root.  What  a 
lesson  to  those  very  same  white  men  who  claim  civilization  under 
the  advanced  teachings  of  Christianity. 

That  chief  of  the  Nez  Perce  tribe  who  held  his  warriors  in 
check  the  summer  of  '77 — who  did  not  allow  them  to  be  even 
insulting — was  more  of  a  follower  of  the  Meek  and  Lowly  One 
than  the  same  Bitter  Root  volunteers  who  had  had  their  lives 
given  them  only  a  few  days  before  by  that  same  chieftain  who 
could  have,  had  he  been  the  blood-thirsty  fiend  the  Red  Man 
is  so  often  depicted,  taken  all  their  property  and  ravished  and 
murdered  their  wives  and  children.  What  a  wonderful  lesson 
could  be  learned  by  the  nations  at  war  in  Europe  today  if  they 
would  tear  one  leaf  from  that  Red  Man's  life  story  and  read  of 
his  decency  and  honesty  as  he  made  good  his  given  word. 

The  Battle  of  the  Big  Hole. 

On  the  morning  of  August  9th,  1877,  the  Nez  Perces  were 
surprised  at  a  time  when  most  of  them  were  asleep.  This  fight, 
which  has  been  the  theme  for  many  a  writer,  was  fought  by  Gen- 
eral John  Gibbon  and  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  men,  includ- 
ing thirty-four  citizen  volunteers  from  the  Bitter  Root.  Now,  in 
a  way,  I  do  not  believe  that  those  Bitter  Root  boys  had  any  right 
to  be  in  that  fight.  In  the  light  of  these  latter  days  I  really 
believe  that  most  of  them  would  like  to  forget  that  they  were  there. 
Now  I  do  not  want  to  say  that  those  men  were  not  honorable  men, 


70  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

because  I  know  they  were.  They  were  good  citizens  but  ones 
who  did  not  hold  the  rights  of  the  Indians  as  anything  which  a 
white  man  should  respect,  especially  when  they  were  on  the  war 
path.  He  was  simply  an  Indian  who,  in  their  desire  to  settle  the 
country,  had  been  a  stumbling  block  that  had  to  be  destroyed. 
They  had  not  taken  time  to  go  into  the  matter,  as  they  would  in 
the  case  of  the  white  man,  to  see  who  was  right,  they  had  simply 
given  the  best  of  it  to  the  whites,  no  matter  how  little  they 
deserved  it. 

It  was  a  good  thing  for  Gibbon  that  they  were  there  as, 
without  them,  he  would,  without  doubt,  have  been  destroyed. 

Even  though  the  whites  had  surprised  the  Nez  Perce  they 
could  not  retain  the  ground  they  had  taken  long  enough  to  know 
they  had  taken  it.  The  Indians  rallied  and  soon  had  recovered 
the  lost  ground  and  made  it  so  warm  for  the  whites  that  they  were 
compelled  to  seek  cover  on  a  point  where  there  was  some  timber 
growing  which  could  be  used  for  fortifying,  as  many  of  the  trees 
had  fallen  down.  Here,  without  anything  to  eat,  the  whites 
were  held  for  some  time,  not  knowing  what  their  fate  would  be. 
The  truth  is  they  would  have  all  been  killed  if  it  had  not  been 
that  Howard  was  known  to  be  not  far  away.  It  was  a  fearful 
battle  to  the  Red  Men  and  one  that  those  of  the  whites,  who  were 
engaged,  will  always  remember.  Over  one-third  of  the  white  men 
were  killed  or  wounded  and  probably  the  same  proportion  of  the 
Red  ones. 

The  Indians  pulled  up  the  Big  Hole  river  and  passed  out  at 
its  head  and  down  Bloody  Dick  Creek  to  the  Horse  Prairie.  On 
Horse  Prairie  they  killed  several  white  settlers.  It  is  the  opinion 
of  the  writer  that  the  volunteers  of  Bitter  Root  were  the  direct 
cause  of  the  massacre  of  the  men  on  Horse  Prairie.  As  the  men 
of  Bitter  Root  had  been  in  the  engagement  with  Gibbon  they 
(the  Indians)  could  not  tell  whom  their  friends  might  be  so  they 
became  as  all  other  people  at  war,  more  ensanguined. 

After  they  had  killed  these  men  on  Horse  Prairie  they  went 
into  Idaho  and  began  their  long  trip  to  the  Yellowstone  through 
the  National  park  on  their  way  to  Canada.  While  this  was  the 
longest  route  it  appeared  to  them  much  safer  as  there  were  many 
less  settlers  with  which  to  contend.  In  fact  there  were  no  settlers 
along  the  route  which  they  chose.  They  did  not  know,  though, 
that  there  were  several  troops  of  soldiers  that  the  Government 
could  call  at  any  time  when  necessary,  and  were  almost  within 
striking  distance  of  them  and  would  be  called  if  those  who  were 
already  after  them  failed  in  their  attempt  to  conquer. 

Not  alone  was  General  Howard  after  them  but  several  com- 
panies of  citizen  volunteers  were  on  their  trail. 


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THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  71 

One  night  they  came  back  and  surprised  Howard  and  stole 
many  of  his  horses  and  mules.  They  also  captured  some  people 
in  the  park  and  one  or  two  were  killed  or  wounded  but  some  were 
turned  loose  to  later  find  their  way  to  the  settlement. 

The  country  through  which  they  were  traveling,  especially  in 
the  Natoinal  park,  was  exceeding  rough.  They  left  Howard's 
command  in  the  rear  and  reached  the  waters  of  the  Yellowstone 
below  the  mountains  and  crossed  over  and  started  toward  the 
Missouri.  They  had  a  set-to  with  the  soldiers  who  did  not  seem 
strong  enough  to  hold  them,  and  continued  on  to  the  north  and 
crossed  the  big  river  at  Cow  Island. 

In  the  days  before  the  railroad  the  steamers  would  start  for 
Benton  and  go  as  far  as  they  could.  Some  times  they  would  get 
to  their  destination  and,  when  the  water  was  too  low,  they  would 
only  get  as  far  as  Peck,  Carroll  or  Cow  Island.  This  year  they 
must  have  gotten  as  far  as  the  island,  for  the  Indians  captured  and 
destroyed  a  wagon  train  at  the  mouth  of  Cow  creek  and  became 
well  supplied  with  provisions  and  other  things  which  came  in 
handy. 

After  the  destruction  of  this  train  they  continued  toward  the 
Canadian  line  but  stopped  when  they  arrived  at  Snake  Creek  at 
a  point  on  it  about  or  almost  one-half  way  from  the  Bear's  Paw 
mountains  to  the  Milk  river,  sixteen  miles  from  Chinook  by  the 
wagon  road,  but  several  miles  nearer  by  air  line. 

The  ground  which  they  chose  for  their  encampment  was  about 
twelve  miles  north  of  the  mountains  and  to  the  ordinary  observer 
it  showed  no  strategic  strength.  The  writer  had  read  all  that  he 
could  find  descriptive  of  this  battle  and  had  been  lead  to  believe 
that  the  place  was  chosen  for  its  impregnability  by  the  wiley 
Joseph. 

The  fact  is  it  was  chosen  as  any  plainsman  or  mountain  man, 
be  he  white  or  Red,  would  have  chosen  for  a  camping  place, 
especially  at  that  season  of  the  year,  October,  for  comfort. 

No  crags,  no  canyons,  no  timber  or  brush,  no  serrated  peaks 
or  giant  rocks,  where  the  besieged  could  skulk  and  defy,  because 
of  the  strength  of  their  position  itself,  a  party  superior  to  theirs 
in  number. 

When  the  writer  visited  this  place  he  was  so  surprised  that  he 
told  his  son  and  another  young  man  that  surely  this  could  not  be 
the  place  where  Joseph  held  an  army  twice  as  large  as  his  war- 
worn warriors  for  several  days  before  he  had  to  finally  give  up 
and  say  as  he  surrendered  his  gun  "From  where  the  sun  now  stands 
I  will  fight  no  more  forever." 

Let  me  try  to  give  a  pen  picture  (if  possible  a  photo  will 
accompanv  this)  of  the  field.  The  Snake  creek  runs  in  a  north- 
easterly direction  from  the  mountains  to  where  it  runs  into  the 


72  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

Milk.  The  great  plains  extend  from  the  base  of  the  mountains  to 
the  north  farther  than  the  eye  can  see  toward  the  Canadian  coun- 
try. The  place  chosen  for  the  camp  was  a  crescent  shaped  flat 
or  cove  which  laid  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek.  It  is  a  strange 
thing,  but  the  peculiar  shape  of  this  cove  or  flat  is  typically  primi- 
tive ctnd  to  even  the  casual  observer  not  hard  to  trace  as  the  back- 
ground form  the  bow  and  the  creek  the  string.  The  back  of  this 
bow  does  not  arise  more  than  twenty-five  feet  high  above  the 
bottom  land  on  which  the  Indians  had  made  their  camp.  At  the 
upper  end  of  the  cove  is  a  cut  bank  that  rises  abruptly.  This 
particular  cut  bank  did  not  offer  much  protection,  though  it  did 
help  the  Indians  some  as  the  whites  could  not  approach  near 
enough  from  that  direction  to  shoot  without  exposing  themselves 
to  the  marksmanship  of  a  band  of  Indians  of  whom  Lieutenant 
Woodruth  said  after  the  battle  of  the  Big  Hole:  "Don't  try  to 
sharp  shoot  with  them  because  they  are  the  best  shots  I  ever  saw, 
and  I  had  several  years'  experience  in  the  Civil  war  as  well  as 
years  on  the  plains  fighting  Indians."  This  cut  bank  came  to  the 
creek  at  the  upper  end  of  the  bow.  The  back  of  the  bow  was  not 
abrupt  but  it,  too,  came  to  the  creek  at  the  lower  end  in  a  bluff  or 
ridge.  To  the  west  or  northwest,  in  front  of  the  string  (creek) 
was  a  plain  with  a  gradual  slope  toward  the  stream.  From  this 
part  of  the  field  the  whites  had  a  good  view  of  the  Indian  camp. 
The  whites  came  in  from  the  southeast  and  the  guides  or  scouts 
found  the  Indians,  or  many  of  them,  hunting  buffalo  which  dotted 
the  plain  in  almost  every  direction.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  Indians 
thought  that  they  were  beyond  the  danger  zone  and  as  the  buffalo 
were  in  abundance  they  would  stop  right  where  they  were  and 
lay  in  a  supply  of  food  as  they  had  done  so  many  times  in  years 
past.  Tired  and  weary  with  the  long  flight  and  their  many  fights 
with  the  several  armies  which  the  Government  had  from  time  to 
time  sent  against  them,  they  had  found  the  very  acme  of  Indian 
happiness  in  the  numberless  buffalo,  so  easy  to  be  procured. 
These  same  buffalo  proved  the  temptation  which,  listening  to, 
proved  their  undoing  as  had  the  apple  to  our  first  mother  in 
another  garden  so  long  ago. 

Out  on  the  vast  plains  of  the  west  the  Indian  and  plainsmen 
had  found  fuel  in  the  dry  dung  of  the  buffalo  which  was  called, 
to  make  it  sound  more  pleasing  to  the  refined  ear,  "Buffalo  chips." 
Here  where  Joseph  had  chosen  his  camp  fuel,  water  and  grass 
were  abundant,  an  ideal  place  for  a  few  days. 

Coming  in  from  the  northeast  was  a  small  coulee  that  came 
in  and  cut  the  back  of  the  bow  near  the  lower  end  of  the  camp. 
This  coulee  had  formed  two  mouths  and  it  was  because  of  that 
peculiar  formation  that  the  point  became  a  strategic  one.  Between 
the  mouths  of  the  coulee  was  a  triangular  bar  of  about  one  acre  in 


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OTED  SCOUT 


LOUIS  SHAMBO,  PRIEND  OF  PER-  ( 

SHING,  HITS  LAST  TRAIL 

IN  THIS  CITY 


Special    to   The   Record-Herald. 

HAVRE,  Nov.  7. — Louis  Sharabo,  one 
of  the  pioneer  scouts  of  the  north- 
west, is   dead   here. 

The  late  scout  was  born  in  Grace- 
ville,  Minn.,  in  1846,  and  he  was  one 
of  the  greatest  scouts  blazing  the  trail 
to  civilization  known  to  the  west.  He 
was  a  government  scout  and  guide 
with  General  Miles  during  the  time 
of  the  capture  of  Chief  Joseph  in  the 
Bear  Paw  mountain  district  in  1876. 
After  this  he  served  in  the  capacity 
of  scout  and  interpreter  for  the  gov- 
j  eminent. 

He    was   a   special   fj-iend   of  General 

Pershing  in  the  early  '90s  at  Fort  As- 

sinniboine    in    his    official    capacity    as 

interpreter    and       government      scout. 

I  Shambo    was    very    reticent    in    his    de- 

!  meanor,     silent    and    reserved,    friends 

|  only  in  his  reminiscent  mood  could  get 

i  him    to    divulge   his    experience    of   the 

t 

j  early   days. 

Volumes  could  be  written  of  private 
|  history  related  in  his  personal  experi- 
ence.    He    lived    as    a   boy    among    the , 
Chippewas  of  Minnesota,  grew  to  man-  j 
hood  among  the  manners  and  customs 
of    the    aborigines,    graduated    in     the 
school   of   frontier   life,    thus    becoming 
'  a   valuable    servant   to   the   government 
|  in  later  years  as   one  of  the  most  val- 
I  iant  and  reliable  scouts  that  this  coun- 
try   has    ever   known. 

He  is  survived  by  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Maggie  Bureh,  and  a  son,  Edward 
Shambo,    both    of    Dodson. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  73 

area,  with  its  base  along  the  stream.  The  gulches  formed  by  the 
coulee  were  not  more  than  four  feet  deep  and  of  gentle  slope  and 
not  abrupt.  The  soil  in  the  bottom  of  the  ravine  was  alluvial  and 
easy  to  dig.  The  Indians  had  taken  advantage  of  this  particular 
section  and  excavated  many  holes  that  were  jug-shaped,  as  the 
opening  was  much  smaller  than  the  main  room.  Some  of  these 
holes  were  connected  by  tunnels.  Behind  these  ravines  the  bar 
came  to  a  point  and  offered  a  splendid  view  of  the  plain  from 
which  the  whites  would  approach.  The  point  was  used  as  a 
means  of  defense  by  digging  pits  and  placing  some  small  rocks 
close  enough  so  they  would  be  a  protection  from  the  rifle  bullets. 
To  the  north,  the  right  hand  side  of  the  ridge  which  formed 
the  coulee,  ran  out  a  little,  or  one  should  say  the  creek  cut  around 
the  lower  end  of  it  so  it  extended  out  a  little  into  the  valley 
or  cove  and  on  it  there  were  some  rifle  pits  fixed  in  the  same  way. 
The  peculiar  formation  of  the  triangle  furnished  the  Indian  a  full 
view  of  the  soldiers'  battle  line  to  the  west  and  the  rifle  pits  gave 
them  the  view  of  the  rest  of  the  field.  After  the  Indians  had  had 
time  to  entrench  it  was  impossible  for  the  soldiers  to  take  their 
position  by  a  charge.  Another  thing  that  was  in  favor  of  the 
Indians,  they  could  get  all  the  water  they  needed  as  their  fortifi- 
cations extended  to  the  creek  down  the  ravine. 

Now  the  description  of  the  battle  as  given  by  Miles  or  Howard 
does  not  enter  into  detail.  A  story  without  detail  lacks  everything 
that  goes  to  make  a  story  interesting.  It  has  been  the  writer's 
good  fortune  to  have  found  some  of  the  men  who  were  actively 
engaged  in  this  fight  and  he  is  going  to  let  them  tell  their  stories 
in  their  own  words. 

The  scout  who  found  the  Nez  Perce  camp  for  Miles  was 
Louie  Shambow,  at  this  time  (Dec,  1916)  living  in  Havre.  I 
am  going  to  allow  him  to  give  his  description  as  I  consider  it  very 
interesting  and  because  it  has  never  been  given  to  the  public. 

Shambow's  Story. 

"I  had  been  one  of  Crook's  scouts  and  had  made  a  trip  to 
the  Redwater,  Dry  Fork,  etc.,  with  'Yellowstone  Kelly.'  I  was 
introduced  to  Miles  by  Kelly.  Miles  wanted  me  to  work  for  him 
and  said  he  would  give  me  the  very  best  wages.  I  asked  him 
what  they  were  and  he  said  'Seventy-five  dollars  a  month.'  As 
I  was  at  that  time  packing  and  getting  $125  I  did  not  feel  that 
the  wages  offered  were  any  inducement  so  I  told  him  that  the 
offer  was  too  low  but  that  I  would  consider  the  same  price  from 
him  that  I  was  getting. 

"His  reply  was  not  one  that  made  me  feel  very  friendly  toward 
him  as  he  said  in  a  tone,  which  I  did  not  like,  that  he  could  get 


74  IN  THE   LAND   OF  CHINOOK 

good  men  for  forty  dollars,  placing  too  much  emphasis  on  good. 
I  turned  on  my  heel  and  told  him  to  get  his  forty  dollar  men, 

thinking  then  that  I  would  see  him  in  h before  I  would  work 

for  him  at  any  price.  When  we  got  into  the  Little  Missouri  the 
scouts  they  had  did  not  know  the  country.  They  came  to  me  for 
information  and  I  told  Captain  Clark  of  the  Second  Cavalry  to 
look  to  Miles'  forty  dollar  men  as  I  did  not  wish  to  interfere  with 
their  plans. 

"When  we  got  to  the  mouth  of  Powder  river  a  fellow  came 
from  Keogh  to  tell  us  to  come  to  that  post  as  fast  as  we  could. 
We  went  to  Keogh  to  get  ready  to  go  after  the  Nez  Perces.  We 
crossed  the  Yellowstone  in  two  or  three  days.  The  night  after  we 
crossed  the  head  man  came  to  me  and  said :  'You  will  not  go  on 
this  trip.'  I  asked  him  why,  and  he  replied  that  he  wanted  me  to 
break  in  a  bunch  of  mules  to  pack.  My  reply  was  that  I  might 
not  want  to  stay;  that  I  might  go  back  to  Wyoming.  I  went  to 
the  quartermaster  and  told  him  I  was  going  to  Miles  City  and 
when  he  wanted  me  he  could  send  for  me.  In  the  course  of  four 
or  five  days  an  orderly  hunted  me  up  and  said  the  commanding 
officer  wanted  to  see  me  right  away.  I  went  over  and  he  told 
me  that  the  Nez  Perces  had  burned  a  bull  train  at  the  mouth  of 
Cow  creek  and  asked  me  if  I  knew  where  it  was.  I  told  him 
yes.  To  my  answer  he  said:  'Here  is  a  dispatch  and  I  want 
you  to  take  it  to  General  Miles.'  I  told  him  that  I  was  no  scout, 
that  I  did  not  go  much  on  General  Miles  anyway  from  what  he 
had  said  to  me,  and  as  they  could  get  forty  dollar  men  they  had 
better  get  them.  He  turned  td  me  and  said:  'You  had  better 
go,  Louie,  as  Miles  will  be  sure  to  make  it  all  right  with  you;  and 
anyway  there  is  no  one  else  here  that  we  can  depend  on.'  A 
little  of  that  kind  of  talk  and  I  fell  for  it  and  told  him  I  would 
go.  'When  will  you  be  ready?'  My  reply  was  that  all  I  wanted 
was  a  good  horse  and  I  would  go.  I  started  at  once  and  overtook 
Miles  the  third  day  out  at  the  east  end  of  the  Bear's  Paw.  I 
had  a  little  trouble  to  get  inside  the  guards  but  did  so  and  delivered 
my  dispatch  to  the  General  and  went  to  bed.  The  next  morning, 
so  early  that  I  could  see  no  sense  in  it,  they  called  me  to  go  to 
Miles'  tent. 

"He  explained  to  me  that  the  guides  did  not  know  the  country 
any  more  and  wanted  to  know  which  way  the  Indians  would  go, 
as  they  were  supposed  to  join  the  Gros  Ventres.  I  told  him  that 
we  were  in  the  land  of  the  Gros  Ventres  right  now.  He  then 
replied  to  me  that  he  wanted  me  to  find  the  Nez  Perces.  'I  will 
give  you  ten  Cheyenne  scouts,  see  if  you  can  find  any  trace  of 
these  people,  and  I  will  make  it  all  right  with  you,  money  will  be 
no  object.' 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  75 

"I  started  with  the  Indians  and  only  had  gone  about  four  miles 
when  I  found  their  trail.  I  sent  an  Indian  back  telling  him  the 
place  where  the  Indians  were  going  and  for  him  to  come  on.  We 
had  only  proceeded  seven  or  eight  miles  when  we  saw  a  bunch 
cf  them  running  buffalo,  probably  ten  or  twelve  of  them.  They 
soon  discovered  us,  as  they  had  glasses.  I  soon  noticed  that  they 
were  the  Nez  Perces  as  they  had  striped  blankets — the  other 
tribes  had  solid  colors.  I  sent  another  Indian  back  to  tell  the 
General  that  we  had  found  the  Nez  Perces  and  that  they  had 
better  hurry  up.  The  Nez  Perces  took  what  meat  they  wanted, 
as  we  did  not  crowd,  not  getting  nearer  than  one-half  mile. 

"When  they  started  for  camp  we  followed  but  could  see  no 
lodges  but  could  see  their  horses,  which  were  on  the  northeast  side 
of  the  creek.  We  had  no  business  any  nearer  those  fellows,  so 
hung  around  till  Miles  came. 

"Finally  he  came  up  and  asked  me  what  I  had  found.  I  told 
him  what  I  had  seen  and  that  they  were  camped  on  Snake  creek. 
He  wanted  to  know  how  far  and  I  told  him  about  four  or  five 
miles.  He  told  me  he  wanted  me  to  take  him  to  their  camp  and 
I  told  him  I  could  not  see  the  camp  but  that  I  knew  where  they 
all  went  in  and  came  out.  We  got  within  a  mile  of  them  but 
could  not  see  them.  Again  he  told  me  to  take  him  right  where 
I  thought  they  were  and  had  the  bugle  blow  for  'double  quick.' 

"We  did  not  see  a  thing  of  them  till  we  got  within  seventy  or 
eighty  yards.  (This  was  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  in 
the  morning.)  The  Indians  were  waiting  for  us  and  opened  fire 
and  Miles  stopped  his  command  right  there  instead  of  making  a 
charge — and  it  was  right  there  he  made  his  big  loss.  (We  buried 
twenty-two  men  and  they  were  dying  all  the  way  back.)  I  was 
in  the  lead  and  thought  that  Miles  was  coming.  The  Indians 
shot  my  horse  three  times  and  he  fell  dead  and  I  was  behind  him 
for  an  hour  or  more  or  until  the  bullets  began  to  come  through  and 
made  my  fortifications  no  pleasant  place  to  stay.  There  was  a 
boulder  about  four  or  five  feet  from  me  and  I  wiggled  to  and  got 
behind  it.  It  was  not  a  large  rock,  only  an  inch  or  two  above  my 
head  when  I  was  lying  close  to  the  ground.  Pretty  soon  'Yellow- 
stone Kelley'  and  Haddow,  a  soldier,  came  to  me  and  wanted  to 
know  if  I  saw  anything.  I  told  them  I  did  and  that  I  was  getting 
some  shots  that  counted.  Haddow  crowded  up  close  to  me  and 
placed  his  arm  around  me  and  I  told  him  to  lie  low  or  they 
would  get  him.  I  had  no  more  than  told  him  when  a  bullet  hit 
him  just  above  the  collar  bone  and  ranged  down.  I  looked  back 
and  saw  that  he  was  shot  to  die,  so  I  asked  Kelley  to  take  him 
by  the  legs  and  pull  him  off  and  we  would  see  if  we  could  get 
him  to  a  place  of  safety.    We  started  but  he  died  on  our  hands. 


76  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

"Those  Indians  were  the  best  shots  I  ever  saw.  I  would  put 
a  small  stone  on  the  top  of  my  rock  and  they  would  get  it  every 
time.  They  were  hitting  the  rock  behind  where  I  was  lying  which 
made  me  duck  so  hard  that  it  made  my  nose  bleed. 

"The  next  morning  after  the  first  day's  fight  a  bunch  of 
buffalo  were  coming  into  sight  and  the  soldiers  thought  it  was 
Sitting  Bull's  outfit.  They  could  see  black  horses,  pinto  horses 
and  every  other  kind  and  they  called  me  and  said  that  Sitting 
Bull  was  coming. 

"I  told  them  it  was  buffalo.  You  see  it  had  snowed  that 
night  and  the  snow  had  blown  into  the  hair  of  the  buffalo  and 
made  them  look  white  and  spotted.  I  told  them  it  was  buffalo  and 
look  a  horse  that  belonged  to  Miles  and  rode  over  and  killed  one 
and  brought  some  of  the  meat  back.  Miles  gave  me  fits  for  it. 
I  believe  that  if  the  Indians  had  charged  right  then  the  soldiers 
would  have  run  like  hell.  I  have  been  in  harder  fights  than  that 
and  will  always  believe  that  if  we  had  not  hesitated  we  would 
have  ended  that  fight  in  fifteen  minutes  as  there  were  twice  as 
many  white  men  as  there  were  Indian  warriors." 

Surely  that  gives  something  that  has  never  before  been  written 
for  the  people  to  think  about  when  they  study  the  fight  at  Snake 
creek. 

The  buffalo  hunters  that  they  had  out  had  kept  the  Indians 
from  being  surprised,  and  they  had  returned  to  camp  in  time  to 
be  prepared  to  meet  Miles  with  surprise  and  with  such  deadly 
effect  that  he  waited  and  gave  the  Indians  time  to  fortify. 

We  want  to  give  the  reader  something  of  the  battle  as 
described  by  Col.  Miles  and  then  let  him  judge.  Shambow  says 
that  he  saw  the  Indians  hunting  buffalo  and  that  they  saw  him 
and  that  they  were  ready  for  the  soldiers  when  they  made  the 
charge  between  1  1  and  12  o'clock.     Now  what  does  Miles  say? 

"The  Nez  Perces  were  quietly  slumbering  in  their  tents  evi- 
dently without  a  thought  of  danger,  as  they  had  sent  out  scouts 
the  day  before  to  see  if  there  were  any  troops  in  the  vicinity,  and 
as  the  scouts  had  reported  'none  discovered,'  but  that  they  had 
seen  vast  herds  of  buffaloes,  deer,  elk  and  antelope  quietly  graz- 
ing on  the  prairie  undisturbed,  and  no  enemy  in  sight.  The 
Seventh  Cavalry  was  thrown  in  line  while  moving  at  a  gallop, 
the  commanding  officer,  Captain  Hale,  riding  in  advance.  With 
a  smile  on  his  face  he  dashed  forward  to  the  cruel  death  awaiting 
him. 

"Tyler's  Second  Cavalry  was  ordered  to  sweep  to  the  left  and 
then  turn  down  the  valley  and  secure  the  horses.  The  Fifth 
Infantry,  under  Captain  Snyder,  was  deployed  in  the  rear  of  the 
Seventh  Cavalry  at  first,  and  finally  extending  the  line  to  the  left, 


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THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  77 

charged  directly  on  the  camp  while  the  Second  was  sweeping  the 
valley  of  the  horses. 

"When  the  charge  was  made  the  spirited  horses  of  the  Seventh 
cavalry  carried  that  battalion  a  little  more  rapidly  over  the  plains 
than  the  Indian  ponies  of  the  mounted  infantry,  and  it  was 
expected  to  first  strike  the  enemy  with  the  Seventh.  The  tramp 
of  at  least  six  hundred  horses  over  the  prairie  fairly  shook  the 
ground,  and,  although  a  complete  (  ?)  surprise  to  the  Indians  in 
the  main,  it  must  have  given  a  few  minutes'  notice,  for  as  the  troops 
charged  against  the  village  the  Indians  opened  a  hot  fire  on  them. 
(Italics  are  mine.)  This  momentarily  checked  the  advance  of 
the  Seventh  Cavalry,  which  fell  back,  but  for  only  a  short  dis- 
tance, and  was  quickly  rallied  again  and  charged  forward  at  a 
gallop,  driving  that  portion  of  the  Indian  camp  before  it." 

N.  C.  Titus 

Says:  "With  slight  reconnaisance,  Col.  Miles  ordered  Capt. 
Hale  to  form  his  battalion  (three  companies  of  the  Seventh  Cav- 
alry) in  battle  line  advance  and  charge  direct  the  southern  end 
of  the  camp,  Capt.  Tyler,  with  two  companies  of  the  Second 
Cavalry  and  thirty  Cheyenne  scouts,  was  ordered  to  approach  the 
north  end  of  the  camp  and  prevent  the  escape  of  the  Indians  and 
capture  the  ponies.  Miles  approached  the  left  with  three  com- 
panies of  mounted  infantry.  The  Seventh  trotted  forward  in 
battle  line  and  from  Col.  Miles'  column  could  be  seen  sweeping 
forward  over  the  undulating  prairie,  in  the  depressions  out  of 
sight;  on  the  ascending  slopes  and  succeeding  ridges,  the  orderly 
columns  reappear  and  roll  over  the  crest  and  disappear.  They 
are  at  last  near  the  lodges,  they  are  lost  to  view  of  their  anxious 
comrades;  for  a  few  minutes  the  dreadful  silence  is  unbroken; 
then  a  few  scattered  shots  are  heard,  followed  by  the  terrible 
roar  and  din  of  musketry.  All  are  in  suspense  and  press  forward 
to  learn  the  fate  of  the  gallant  men  of  the  Seventh.  Some  minutes 
pass  in  awful  uncertainty,  when  Lieut.  Eckerson,  alone,  covered 
with  blood  from  his  wounds,  rushed  to  Col.  Miles  with  the  words : 

'I  am  the  only  d d  man  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry  who  wears 

shoulder  straps,  alive.'     In  fact  he  had  seen  every  officer  shot 
down,  either  killed  or  wounded. 

"Miles  ordered  the  infantry  to  attack  and  the  four-pound 
Howitzer  to  occupy  the  ridge  northwest  of  the  Indian  camp.  In 
this  attempt  one  rider  and  two  out  of  the  four  mules  were  killed, 
the  gun  left  pointing  toward  the  attacking  force  until  night,  when 
it  was  stationed  for  defense." 

Miles  continues:  'The  Fifth  Infantry,  under  Capt.  Snyder, 
charged  forward  to  the  very  edge  of  the  valley  and  opened  a 


78  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

deadly  fire  with  their  long  range  rifles  (it  was  good  that  they 
were  long  range)  with  telling  effect. 

'The  infantry  swept  around  to  the  left  to  enclose  that  portion 
of  the  camp  and  force  the  Indians  into  a  ravine.  A  great  part 
of  the  line  encircling  the  Indian  camp  was  dotted  with  dead  and 
wounded  soldiers  and  horses.  The  fight  had  been  sudden,  rapid 
and  most  desperate  on  both  sides. 

"Capt.  Carter  in  one  charge  had  thirty-five  per  cent  of  his 
command  placed  'hors  de  combat.'  I  felt  positive  that  we  had 
secured  the  beleagured  Indians  in  their  camp  without  a  possibility 
of  escape.  I  did  not,  therefore,  order  a  general  assault,  as  I  knew 
it  must  result  in  the  loss  of  many  valuable  lives  and  possibly  a 
massacre.  (Massacre  of  whom?  No  doubt  he  meant  his  com- 
mand.) The  Indians  occupied  a  crescent-shaped  ravine  and  it 
was  apparent  that  their  position  could  only  be  forced  by  a  charge 
or  a  siege.  The  first  could  not  be  accomplished  without  too  great 
a  sacrifice. 

"My  one  concern  was  the  Sioux  Indians  under  Sitting  Bull 
only  fifty  miles  away  in  Canada.  On  the  morning  of  the  third 
day  of  the  siege  the  ground  was  well  covered  with  snow  and 
scouts  reported  a  large  body  of  black  objects  on  the  distant  hills, 
moving  in  our  direction.  This  occasioned  much  excitement  among 
the  troops,  and  every  eye  was  turned  to  the  north,  from  whence 
it  was  feared  that  Sitting  Bull  might  come.  I  watched  this  with 
much  anxiety.  It  was  soon  found  to  be  buffalo.  It  was  surely 
a  relief  to  know  it. 

"Joseph  came  out  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  from  him  we 
learned  that  the  principal  chief,  Looking  Glass*,  and  four  other 
chiefs  had  been  killed,  besides  a  large  number  of  others  killed  or 
wounded.     He  was  informed  that  he  must  surrender. 

"While  Joseph  was  in  our  camp  I  directed  Lieut.  Jerome  to 
ascertain  what  they  were  doing  in  the  village,  supposing  that  he 
would  go  to  the  bluff  and  look  over  into  the  camp.  But  mis- 
understanding my  instructions,  he  went  down  into  the  ravine, 
whereupon  he  was  seized  and  held  until  he  was  exchanged  for 
Joseph. 

"Howard  came  up  on  the  evening  of  the  fourth  and  Joseph 
surrendered  at  ten  the  next  morning.  Those  who  surrendered 
with  Joseph  and  those  taken  outside  the  camp  numbered  four 
hundred.  There  were  twenty-six  killed  in  all  and  forty-six 
wounded. 

"I  had  twenty-two  killed  and  forty-three  wounded." 

Joseph  surrendered  to  Miles  on  one  condition;  that  he  was 
to  be  allowed  to  return  to  his  home  in  Oregon.     Miles  says  that 

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THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  79 

he  agreed  to  those  terms  but  that  the  Government  did  not  sanc- 
tion it.  Now  you  do  not  need  to  read  between  the  lines,  for  the 
fact  stands  out  as  clear  as  the  noon-day  sun,  that  Miles  did  not 
surprise  Joseph  but  the  soldiers  were  themselves  surprised  and  did 
not  know  what  to  do  after  they  had  met  their  first  rebuff  when 
the  Seventh  charged  the  camp.  It  was  in  that  one  charge  that 
about  fourteen  out  of  the  twenty-two  were  killed  and  over  half 
of  the  wounds  were  received.  The  repulse  was  of  such  a  nature 
that  the  soldiers  got  back  to  a  place  of  safety.  Miles  says  they 
fell  back.  Louie  Shambow,  a  man  who  had  been  in  more  Indian 
fights  than  Miles,  said  that  if  they  had  charged,  fifteen  minutes 
would  have  decided  the  conflict  as  there  were  twice  as  many 
soldiers  as  there  were  Indians.  Miles  tells  us  that  four  hundred 
surrendered.  Did  he  any  place  tell  in  his  life's  story  of  what  this 
four  hundred  consisted?  No,  but  others  who  wanted  to  play 
fair,  tell  you  that  there  were  eighty-nine  men,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-four  women  and  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  children. 
That  kind  of  an  outfit  it  took  Miles  six  days  to  get  and  yet  he 
said  they  were  "slumbering  in  their  tents."  If  he  was  right  and 
those  sleeping  Indians  put  up  such  a  scrap  where  would  he  and 
his  troops  have  been  if  those  Nez  Perce  warriors  had  been  awake 
when  the  charge  was  made? 

How  many  men  did  Miles  have?  Some  say  four  hundred, 
some  say  three  hundred  and  fifty  whites  and  thirty  Cheyenne 
scouts.  Miles  said:  'The  tramp  of  at  least  six  hundred  horses 
over  the  prairie  fairly  shook  the  ground." 

Joseph  had  made  the  most  wonderful  retreat  in  the  history 
of  the  world.  He  had  taken  his  men,  women  and  children  and 
property  for  nearly  two  thousand  miles  through  the  enemy's 
country  and  had  fought  several  battles,  all  of  which  were  to  his 
credit.  Here  on  the  cold,  bleak  plains  of  northern  Montana, 
when  the  cold  blasts  of  an  early  fall  with  its  chilling  storms  of 
snow  made  it  too  disagreeable  without  fire,  for  the  women,  chil- 
dren and  wounded,  he  had  to  quit.  His  almost  indomitable 
spirit  was  broken  because  the  assistance  he  had  expected  from 
his  Red  brothers  had  been  withheld;  yes,  turned  to  the  assistance 
of  the  white  race,  which  had  never  been  anything  but  an  enemy 
to  the   natives   of  America. 

To  give  some  idea  of  the  kind  of  men  the  whites  stripped 
of  their  native  land  and  forced  into  exile  the  writer  has  appended 
the  following  comments. 

Gibbon,  after  the  fight  at  Big  Hole:  "Who  would  have 
believed  that  those  Indians  would  have  rallied  after  such  a  sur- 
prise and  made  such  a  fight?" 

Titus  said :  'The  humanity  and  noble  generosity  of  the  Nez 
Perces  in  caring  for  the  wounded  soldiers  on  the  battlefield  fur- 


80  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

nish  the  brightest  page  in  Indian  history.  In  fact  the  Nez  Perce 
had  never  scalped  or  mutilated  the  bodies  of  their  dead  foes  or 
tortured  a  prisoner." 

Gen.  Howard :  'The  leadership  of  Chief  Joseph  was  indeed 
remarkable.     No  general  could  have  chosen  a  safer  position." 

Speaking  of  the  battle  on  the  Salmon  river  he  says  also: 
"Joseph  was  able  to  hold  out  for  several  days  against  twice  his 
numbers  at  the  battle  of  the  Bear's  Paw." 

Again  Howard  said :  "And  even  at  last,  the  natural  resources 
of  his  mind  did  not  fail  him.  Broken  in  pieces  by  Miles'  furious 
assault,  burdened  with  his  women,  children  and  plunder,  suffer- 
ing from  the  loss  of  his  still  numerous,  though  badly  crippled  herd 
of  ponies,  yet  he  was  able  to  entrench  and  hold  out  for  days 
against  twive  his  numbers." 

Let  us  acknowledge  that  this  was  a  man. 

Mrs.  James  Dorrity's  Story. 

"I  was  a  little  girl  of  nine  when  the  battle  on  Snake  creek 
took  place.  I  remember  of  hearing  the  cannon,  though,  it  was  ten 
or  twelve  miles  away.  My  uncle  Bent  had  been  to  the  battle 
field  and  on  his  return  trip  was  captured  by  the  Nez  Perces  who 
took  his  clothes  away  and  sent  him  home  in  a  blanket.  (Mr. 
Bent  says  this  is  not  wholly  correct,  that  they  only  took  part  of 
his  clothes,  as  the  reader  will  see  in  Bent's  experience  in  another 
place.)  There  was  a  little  Nez  Perce  girl  whom  I  afterward  met 
who  managed  to  escape  from  the  Indian  camp. 

"She  got  a  short  distance  down  Snake  creek  where  she  found 
some  horses,  one  of  which  she  managed  to  catch.  By  using  a 
part  of  her  clothing  she  managed  to  make  a  kind  of  a  bridle  so 
she  could  ride  and  guide  the  pony.  She  was  riding  down  a 
coulee  when  all  at  once  she  saw  two  Indian  women  rise  out  of 
some  bushes.  One  of  them  had  a  broken  arm.  They  persuaded 
her  to  help  them.  She,  in  helping  the  wounded  one  on  the  horse, 
pushed  her  clear  over,  and  though  the  woman  cried  with  pain, 
she,  girl  like,  could  not  help  laughing.  Years  after,  when  she 
was  telling  me,  she  could  not  keep  a  straight  face. 

"Along  the  Milk  river  in  those  days  there  were  many  half- 
breeds  living  in  cabins — really  a  considerable  settlement — the  girl 
took  the  Indian  women  to  one  of  these  places — from  which  they 
could  be  assisted  to  escape  into  Canada.  The  young  girl  went 
to  Fort  Belknap  and  when  a  little  older  married  Left  Hand, 
an  Assinniboine.  Both  of  them  died,  later,  on  the  reservation. 
She  was  part  Flathead — her  father  belonging  to  that  tribe — and 
happened  to  be  on  a  visit  to  her  grandparents  in  Idaho  when 
the  war  started,  so  never  got  back  to  her  people.  She  spoke  very 
good  English. 


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THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  81 

'The  Indians  at  Fort  Belknap  were  not  allowed  to  harbor 
a  Nez  Perce.  Two  Indian  women  and  three  men  came  for 
succor;  they  were  taken  to  a  lodge  where  they  were  fed  their 
breakfast  then  driven  to  a  large  sandbar  on  the  river,  about  five  or 
six  miles  west  of  Chinook,  where  they  were  killed  by  Long  Horse, 
a  Gros  Ventre. 

"One  of  the  Indian  women  had  the  papoose  sack  on  her  back 
filled  with  the  clothing  of  her  dead  baby,  of  which  she  was  so 
careful  she  would  not  allow  any  one  to  touch.  This  was  a 
brutal  thing  to  do  but  the  whites,  especially  General  Miles,  had 
told  the  Gros  Ventres  that  they  must  not  harbor  a  Nez  Perce 
under  pain  of  death  themselves. 

"Whether  Long  Horse  was  really  mean,  and  did  this  brutal 
act  for  fun,  or  whether  he  was  actuated  through  fear  of  what 
Miles  had  said  can  never  be  known  as  he  is  dead  and  can  never 
tell  his  story. 

"And  the  woman,  an  Assinniboine,  who  rode  to  see  the  death 
of  the  Nez  Perces,  died  last  year,  so  we  can  never  probably  know 
the  exact  truth.  According  to  the  story  of  the  Flathead  girl 
Joseph  had  been  in  camp  on  Snake  creek  for  four  days  before  he 
was  attacked  by  the  soldiers. 

"Joseph  thought  he  had  passed  beyond  the  point  where  there 
would  be  any  more  danger  from  the  whites.  Buffalo  were  abun- 
dant and  Snake  Butte  was  black  with  them.  They  had  killed 
and  were  curing  and  jerking  meat  for  their  winter's  use  and  had 
several  par  fleshes  full  of  the  meat  in  their  lodges  and  they  were 
more  or  less  a  protection  when  they  were  attacked. 

"It  was  after  both  of  her  grandparents  had  been  killed  that 
she  made  her  escape.  It  was  surely  a  sad  thing  to  think  about; 
these  Indians  who  had  never  injured  any  one  until  driven  to  fight 
by  the  misdeeds  of  the  whites  whom  they  had  never  injured,  even 
when  they  could  have  done  so  with  safety,  could  not  go  to  their 
own  race  and  receive  the  protection  that  one  would  extend  to  a 
stray  dog.  After  all  their  struggles  they  had  to  succumb  to  the 
strength  of  the  white  men  and  to  their  rapacity. 

"I  will  always  remember  this  cruel  thing  with  horror." 


CHAPTER  X. 

Stories  of  Plainsmen. 
Billy  Cochran. 

"I  was  born  within  two  miles  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  June   13th, 
1 844.     My  last  work  in  the  east  was  steamboating  on  the  Missis- 


82  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

sippi  river  between  St.  Louis  and  St.  Paul.  Father  was  the  cap- 
tain of  the  Pembina.  Came  to  the  conclusion  to  go  west,  so  out- 
fitted at  Burlington,  Iowa,  in  March,  1861.  We  crossed  the 
Missouri  at  Plattsmouth  and  followed  up  the  South  Platte  all 
the  way  to  the  mouth  of  Cherrie  and  was  on  that  stream  all  winter. 

"June  1st,  1862,  went  to  Salt  Lake  via  old  Fort  Bridger. 
We  had  started  for  the  Salmon  River  country  and  at  Salt  Lake 
we  heard  of  the  discovery  of  gold  on  Gold  Creek.  We  pulled 
out  and  went  up  and  prospected  some  along  the  Snake,  with  no 
success,  and  arrived  at  the  mines  in  Bannack  the  first  of  October. 
We  remained  there  that  winter  and  the  next  spring  a  party  of  us 
went  prospecting.  The  party  consisted  of  John  Morehouse,  my 
uncle,  John  Cochran,  Bill  Bevins,  Jeff  Perkins,  Adam  Miller, 
better  known  as  'Horn'  Miller,  and  myself.  We  got  some  ground 
in  Alder  but  by  August  first  had  discovered  Bevin's  gulch,  which 
was  named  for  Bill  as  he  panned  the  first  pan  of  dirt.  (There 
was  a  trial  by  the  miners'  court  of  a  young  man  accused  of  rob- 
bery and  the  judge  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Darwin,  the  story 
will  be  found  in  the  'Story  of  Ajax'.)  Bevins  was  a  rich  camp 
No.  6  above  discovery,  paid  fifty  dollars  to  the  man  per  day.  I 
continued  to  stay  around  Bevins  till  June,  '64,  when  I  went  to 
Benton  for  a  short  time  but  came  back  and  the  winter  of  '64-5 
went  on  the  Silver  Bow  stampede  where  I  only  remained  one 
month.  In  February,  '65,  I  went  to  Helena  and  got  some  ground 
on  Grizzly,  where  we  made  a  little  money.  Later  we  located 
Ora  Fino  park.  Our  party  consisted  of  Bill  Williams,  Dick 
Jones,  Henry  Newton,  John  Hardrick  and  my  brother  John  and 
myself.  We  made  some  money  when  we  had  water.  (I  left 
Bevins  with  $28,000.)  We  worked  all  the  summer  of  '65 
and  then  came  down  on  the  Missouri,  as  related  to  you  in  my  last 
fall's  talk. 

"In  1866  I  went  to  work  for  the  Northwest  Fur  company, 
fifteen  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell  and  built  old 
Fort  Holly. 

"Jim  Wells,  George  Boyd,  Charlie  Conklin,  Fox, 

Louie  Brampar,  Jake  Leader  and  Jack  Brown  were  there  after 
the  post  was  hung  up.  Fort  Peck  was  built  in  1867  and  I  was 
there.  I  recall  a  little  thing  that  happened  on  a  hunting  expedi- 
tion; there  was  Bill  Martin,  O.  B.  Nevins  and  myself  in  the 
party.  We  needed  meat  so  we  went  for  buffalo.  Everything 
was  going  along  smoothly  and  we  were  getting  plenty  of  game 
when  the  first  we  knew  when  we  were  going  back  to  the  fort  we 
were  ambushed  by  about  forty  or  fifty  Indians  who  had  heard  us 
shooting  and  wanted  to  get  us.  We  met  them  right  in  the  trail. 
We  managed  to  stand  them  off  until  after  dark  and  made  our 
escape;  they  got  me  in  the  leg. 


BILLY  COCHRAN. 
Who  built   tin'  first  Trading  Post   in   whal   is  now   Blaine  County. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  83 

"In  1866  McGinnis  brothers  had  a  wood  yard  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Musselshell.  Jack  Brown,  O.  B.  Nevins,  John  Dillon, 
Adam  Armstrong  and  myself  were  at  Holly.  A  young  fellow 
deserted  from  Camp  Cook  and  had  started  to  work  for  McGinnis. 
Along  about  the  latter  part  of  September  one  of  the  McGinnis 
boys  came  to  Holly,  where  he  arrived  in  the  morning,  and  told 
us  a  war  party  had  killed  the  young  man  whom  they  had  working 
for  them.  He  said  he  was  sure  he  was  dead,  though  he  had  not 
seen  him.  We  went  up  and  found  the  young  man,  he  was  dead 
with  his  head  cut  off  and  smashed  with  an  axe. 

'There  were  two  men  at  work  cutting  hay  a  short  distance  up 
the  river  from  us.  Three  days  after  we  got  back  from  burying 
the  boy,  Jack  Brown,  George  Boyd  and  myself  were  out  on  the 
river  bank  in  the  evening  when  we  were  startled  by  hearing  some 
one  shouting  from  the  other  side  of  the  stream.  It  was  too  dark 
to  see  anything  but  Jack  said  that  was  surely  a  white  man  that 
was  hallooing  so  he  called  but  got  no  reply.  We  had  a  skiff  and 
could  have  gone  over  but  the  Indians  once  in  a  while  did  those 
things  to  entice  one  over  into  their  ambush  so,  as  we  received  no 
answer,  we  did  not  go. 

'The  next  morning  our  outfit  was  hired  to  go  up  the  river 
and  hunt  for  the  two  men.  We  took  a  mackinaw  and  cordelled 
it  up  the  stream.  We  knew  the  bottom  where  they  had  been  at 
work  and  were  going  toward  it  when  about  half  way  up  we  ran 
onto  some  tracks  on  a  sand  bar.  This  bar  was  about  seventy- 
five  yards  in  width,  that  is,  it  was  about  that  distance  from  the 
river  back  to  the  brush.  We  followed  the  tracks  back  to  the 
river  bank  and  in  the  bushes  there  was  a  large  log.  When  we 
came  to  it  Nevins  said:  'These  tracks  are  fresh,  could  have  only 
been  made  recently.'  I  jumped  on  this  log  so  I  could  look  around 
a  little  and  was  not  surprised  to  see  a  man  lying  naked,  just  on 
the  other  side.  He  had  on  one  sock.  He  was  dead,  though  he 
had  only  been  dead  a  little  while.  He  was  mutilated  in  a  most 
horrid  and  unmentionable  way.  We  continued  on  to  their  camp, 
which  we  found  destroyed,  but  could  find  no  traces  of  the  part- 
ner. Indians  afterwards  told  us  that  they  had  seen  a  crazy  man 
who  was  naked  out  there  somewhere  in  the  breaks  of  the  Missouri. 

"In  November  of  1867  Adam  Armstrong,  O.  B.  Nevins 
and  myself  left  Old  Fort  Holly  and  came  out  by  our  old 
fort  on  Rock  creek,  put  out  poison  for  wolves,  then  followed 
Beaver  creek  to  the  mouth  and  made  our  camp  at  Tiger  Buttes. 
We  wintered  there  that  winter.  Wolves  were  plenty  and  we 
were  getting  more  than  we  could  handle.  We  would  always  skin 
those  that  were  found  before  they  were  frozen  and  pile  the 
frozen  ones  up  and  cover  them  with  brush  or  anything  that  came 
handy  so  we  could  find  them  when  winter  broke  up.     It  is  a  fact 


84  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

that  by  spring  we  had  so  many  that  we  needed  help  to  skin  them 
so  Nevins  and  I  went  to  Peck  and  hired  three  men,  Henry  Keiser, 
John  Dillon  and  Bill  Martin,  to  help  us.  We  were  to  pay  them 
five  dollars  a  day;  we  had  no  grub,  had  been  living  on  meat 
straight  for  eight  months  and  for  about  three  months  without  salt. 

"As  it  required  a  lot  of  meat  we  would  hunt,  that  is  the  part- 
ners, each  alternate  day.  It  came  my  day  to  hunt  and,  as  three 
days  before,  I  had  seen  a  bear  track  I  was  very  anxious  to  secure 
him  as  the  meat  we  had  been  getting  was  very  thin  at  that  sea- 
son of  the  year  while  a  bear  might  furnish  us  with  some  grease. 
In  the  meantime  the  men  were  all  busy  in  taking  off  the  hides. 
This  was  on  the  banks  of  the  Milk  river  and  at  points  where  the 
buffalo  had  to  enter  the  river  they  had  made  deep  trails  in  the 
bank.  It  was  about  a  mile  from  where  the  boys  were  at  work 
that  I  saw  something  dark  in  one  of  these  trails.  I  thought  it  was 
a  bear  and  pulled  down  to  fire  when  five  or  six  Indians  jumped 
for  the  brush  on  each  side  of  the  trail. 

"I  had  a  Henry  rifle,  one  of  the  first  in  that  section,  which 
had  cost  me  $180.  I  also  had  a  muzzle-loader  which  I  generally 
used  for  game.  I  want  to  say  that  I  had  killed  an  elk  and  was 
getting  out  of  the  timher  wben  I  saw  my  bear? 

The  Indians  had  gone  over  the  cut  bank,  but  as  the  river  was 
full  of  ice  they  could  get  no  farther.  There  was  a  coulee  that 
ran  from  the  river  back  to  the  buttes  and  I  thought  by  making  for 
that  there  would  be  some  possibility  of  reaching  the  boys,  save 
my  scalp,  as  well  as  theirs  as  there  was  a  chance  that  they  did  not 
know  anything  about  a  war  party  being  out  at  that  time  of  the 
year.  I  made  for  the  coulee  and  got  in  it  and  was  running  back 
toward  the  buttes  when  I  was  seen  by  the  Indians,  forty-two  of 
them,  and  they  separated  and  tried  to  head  me  off.  When  I 
started  to  run  they  shot  and  hit  me  in  the  back  of  the  neck  but 
as  it  was  a  spent  arrow  the  thickness  of  my  buckskin  shirt  saved 
my  life,  though  there  is  a  scar  which  I  am  still  packing.  I  had 
unslung  my  Henry  and  it  was  owing  to  that  that  I  got  away 
because  I  was  doing  something  that  the  Red  fellows  did  not 
understand,  shooting  without  stopping  to  load.  My  first  shot 
killed  one  and  the  second  hit  one  in  the  leg.  Armstrong  and 
Nevins  heard  me  shoot  and  they  came  to  my  rescue.  We  man- 
aged to  escape  and  reach  camp,  where  they  held  us  for  three 
days  without  even  allowing  us  to  build  a  fire.  They  were  making 
it  so  disagreeable  for  us  that  we  came  to  the  conclusion  to  get 
away  as  we  had  nothing  to  eat  and  were  getting  no  rest  that  any 
one  could  enjoy.  I  knew  the  Indian  nature  well  and  was  sure 
they  would  never  leave  us  till  they  had  killed  some  one  to  get 
even  on  the  fellow  which  I  had  shot  the  first  day.  At  the  end  of 
the  third  day,  in  the  night,  we  went  to  the  river  as  the  ice  had 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  85 

run  out,  and  in  the  dark  found  three  dry  logs  big  enough  to  hold 
up  our  guns  and  into  that  cold  water  we  went  and  swam  to  the 
other  side  and  went  to  a  butte  where  they  kept  us  three  days.  We 
could  not  build  a  fire  and  could  not  shoot  anything  so  had  to 
depend  for  food  on  the  poisoned  carcasses  of  the  buffalo  which 
we  had  put  out  for  wolves.  Of  course  we  knew  there  was  no 
danger  as  the  manner  in  which  we  had  put  the  poison  out  was  to 
skin  the  front  part  of  the  animal  and  scarify  it  into  which  we 
sprinkled  the  strychnine.  This  left  the  hind-quarters  perfectly 
good  so  we  felt  safe  on  trying  to  satisfy  our  hunger  on  the  meat 
that  had  been  killed  for  other  purposes. 

"I  forgot  to  say  that  the  other  boys,  believing  us  dead  and 
seeing  the  large  number  of  Indians  which  had  attacked  us,  made 
for  Peck  as  fast  as  they  could  go. 

"We  at  last  came  to  the  conclusion  to  go  back  to  camp  and 
also  try  and  find  the  boys  whom  we  had  left  skinning  the  wolves, 
not  knowing  that  they  were  in  a  place  of  safety.  When  we  got 
to  the  river  we  got  some  dry  logs  with  which  to  make  a  raft  and 
try  and  get  over  without  getting  wet.  All  we  had  was  willows 
with  which  to  bind  the  logs  together.  Armstrong  was  placed  so 
he  could  watch  the  other  bank  and  to  see  if  there  were  any 
Indians  in  sight.  Our  idea  was  to  get  the  raft  ready  and  get  on 
and  keep  close  to  the  shore  till  we  could  drift  down  far  enough 
to  land  on  the  opposite  side  in  a  place  free  from  brush.  Every- 
thing was  ready  and  Armstrong  was  called  and  as  soon  as  he 
reached  us  he  told  us  that  the  timber  on  the  other  side  was  full 
of  Indians  and  that  we  were  to  get  up  on  the  bank  as  soon  as  we 
could,  but  not  till  he  came  down  and  held  the  raft,  for  if  we  were 
to  leave  in  a  hurry  the  Indians  would  think  that  we  had  discov- 
ered them  and  they  would  shoot  us  before  we  could  get  up  the 
bank,  but  if  he  came  down  they  might  get  us  all  when  we  got  to 
the  other  side.  He  came  down  and  got  hold  of  the  logs  and 
told  us  to  get,  and  we  did,  where  we  were  soon  safe  but  they  got 
poor  old  Adam  by  the  time  he  had  gotten  to  the  top  of  the  bank 
and  before  he  could  get  to  a  place  of  safety  behind  a  tree.  The 
wound  was  clean  through  his  body  and  he  died  that  afternoon. 
We  got  him  back  into  the  brush  where  we  stayed  so  we  could 
hide  the  body  and  figure  on  making  our  escape. 

"We  managed  to  get  away  and  went  to  Peck,  where  we 
found  the  others  safe.  We  got  Dillon  and  Bill  Martin  to  come 
back  so  we  could  get  Armstrong's  body  and  give  it  decent  burial. 

"We  did  not  save  all  of  our  hides  but  managed  to  get  1,700 
rafted  down  the  Milk  to  the  Missouri  where  we  waited  for  a  boat 
so  we  could  sell  them. 

'There  had  been  a  mail  contract  from  Diamond  City  to  Fort 
Abercombrie  on  the  Red  River  of  the  North.     I  packed  mail  on 


86  IN  THE  LAND  OF  CHINOOK 

this  route  for  a  time  and  then  came  to  the  conclusion  to  go  down 
the  Missouri.  A  couple  of  us  got  in  a  skiff  and  went  down  to 
Randall,  from  Fort  Union.  When  I  got  to  Randall  I  hired  out 
as  scout  and  courier  to  Capt.  Otis  (?)  I  carried  mail  for  him 
between  two  of  the  posts  till  the  spring  of  '72,  when  I  bought  two 
four-mule  teams  and  began  to  freight  between  Randall  and  the 
Spotted-Tail  Agency,  300  miles,  head  of  White  River. 

"On  one  of  the  trips  I  had  charge  of  Huston's  six  teams  and 
with  us  were  thirteen  teams  that  belonged  to  another  outfit  with 
Bill  Emery  as  wagon  boss.  We  camped  at  the  crossing  of  White 
river  which  was  half  way  and  the  stock  were  all  turned  out  and 
the  night  herders  took  them  in  charge  and  put  them  on  good  feed. 
It  was  the  custom  for  them  to  start  for  camp  early  in  the  morning 
just  before  day.  As  they  came  in  they  would  call  one  of  us  who 
would  go  out  and  take  charge  till  they  had  their  breakfast,  then 
the  stock  would  be  harnessed  and  we  would  pull.  The  next 
morning  early  the  herders  called  and  I  went  out  to  meet  them  and 
asked  where  the  stock  was  and  they  said  that  they  were  in  the 
river  bottom  a  short  distance  below.  A  person  could  not  see  any 
thing  at  that  time  in  the  morning  so  I  concluded  to  ride  so  as  to  be 
far  enough  down  the  stream  to  be  below  the  stock,  which  was  a 
mixed  bunch  of  horses,  cattle  and  mules.  Just  about  daylight  I 
could  hear  the  mules  running  so  I  started  to  head  them  off  as  they 
were  going  down  the  stream  and  away  from  camp.  The  first 
thing  I  knew  the  horse  was  shot  and  the  bullet  hit  me  in 
the  foot.  I  turned  and  started  my  horse  for  the  higher  ground 
but  looked  and  saw.  some  one  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  and 
pulled  my  gun  to  shoot,  when  some  other  fellow  to  the  side  or 
kind  of  back  of  me  shot  and  hit  me  in  the  side  right  under  my  right 
arm  as  it  was  raised  to  shoot.  The  bullet  went  almost  through  me 
and  lodged  near  my  left  shoulder  blade.  My  horse  ran  about  five 
hundred  yards  when  he  fell  dead.  I  fell  by  his  side  and  soon  saw 
two  Indians  sneaking  up  to  get  me  but  that  was  their  last  sneak 
because  I  hit  one  of  them  as  he  was  coming  toward  me  in  a  stoop- 
ing position,  in  the  top  of  the  head  and  as  the  other  fellow  straight- 
ened up  he  got  his  and  fell  close  by  his  chum.  It  was  about  five 
that  afternoon  before  the  boys  found  me. 

'The  Indians  had  seen  me  but  they  did  not  dare  come  within 
gun  shot.  In  those  days  if  you  were  hauling  for  the  Government 
and  the  Indians  raided  your  train  you  would  get  pay.  I  was  haul- 
ing for  private  parties  and  as  the  Indians  got  all  my  stock  and 
the  freight  I  had  to  pay  $2,000  beside  the  loss  of  my  outfit.  That 
broke  me  completely  as  I  was  in  the  hospital  for  eight  months. 
Of  course  my  first  act  was  to  stuff  a  part  of  my  shirt  into  the 
wound  and  keep  from  bleeding  to  death. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  87 

"After  I  got  so  I  could  travel  I  went  to  Cheyenne  and  got  a 
couple  of  horses  and  with  Tom  Russell  went  to  Salt  Lake  City. 
My  uncle,  John  Morehouse,  was  there.  I  wintered  with  him 
that  winter  and  came  back  to  Montana  in  '73. 

"About  that  time  I  was  packing  mail  from  Randall;  the 
distance  was  quite  a  long  ways.  There  was  one  station  where  I 
generally  put  up  and  one  day  when  I  came  there  I  noticed  sev- 
eral fellows  who  went  out  a  little  before  I  did  and  when  I  came 
up  they  surrounded  me  and  rode  for  a  short  distance  when  one 
of  them  said:  'What  have  you  got  in  the  sack?'  I  told  him 
that  I  did  not  have  anything  that  he  wanted  but  he  replied  that 
he  would  be  the  judge  as  to  that  and  for  me  to  fork  it  over.  I 
turned  and  they  had  me  covered  so  that  it  would  have  been 
foolish  for  me  to  try  and  help  myself.  They  took  the  sack  and 
I  rode  to  the  post  where  we  formed  a  posse  and  went  back. 
Sommers,  the  leader,  was  killed  but  we  never  found  the  other 
fellows.  (When  Billy  said:  'Sommers  was  killed  but  I  did  not 
kill  him,'  I  had  to  take  his  word  for  it  but  there  was  something 
in  his  eyes  that  belied  the  words  as  it  is  known  that  few  men  ever 
on  the  frontier  were  ever  in  his  class  when  it  came  to  shooting, 
but  of  course  there  was  a  posse  there  at  the  time  and  some  of 
the  others  may  have  shot  first.)  This  put  an  end  to  a  tough 
gang  because  as  soon  as  the  leader  was  killed  the  others  never 
came  back.     They  went  to  Canada. 

'To  resume,  in  the  fall  of  '76  I  was  in  Deadwood,  White's 
gulch.  Pike  Landusky  and  I  were  going  to  Spearfish  for  some 
reason  and  when  we  got  ready  to  start  were  told  that  the  Indians 
had  stolen  some  cattle  from  a  sawmill  company  and  that  they 
would  give  us  twenty-five  dollars  a  head  for  all  we  could  find. 

"When  we  got  to  Centennial  valley  we  were  overtaken  by 
five  or  six  others  and  they  reported  that  the  Reds  had  stolen  a 
big  band  of  horses.  We  went  on  and  soon  overtook  them  but 
most  of  them  got  away.  There  was  one  whom  we  were  chasing  so 
close  that  he  quit  his  horse  and  jumped  over  a  cut-bank  into  some 
wild  cherry  bushes.  These  bushes  were  so  thick  that  we  could 
not  see  any  one.  Soon  others  came  and  there  was  plenty  to  sur- 
lound  the  place  and  get  him  if  he  showed  himself.  They  rolled 
rocks  down  but  he  simply  took  them  and  made  a  breast  work  so 
that  he  would  be  pretty  safe  if  any  one  went  down.  The  place 
was  shot  so  full  that  no  one  could  hardly  think  that  he  could 
possibly  be  alive.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Brown  said  he  was 
going  in  and  get  that  fellow  and  we  tried  to  dissuade  him  but  it 
was  no  use  so  he  went  down,  saw  the  Indian  and  shouted:  'I've 
found  him,'  and  there  was  a  shot  and  Brown  was  dead.  Another 
rellow  went  in  and  he  was  killed  also. 


88  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

"All  the  other  fellows  quit  except  Pike  and  myself  but  as 
Pike  wanted  to  stay  we  did  and  just  about  daybreak  the  fellow 
came  out,  supposing  all  had  gone,  in  which  he  made  the  mistake 
of  his  ife  for  it  was  soon  safe  enough  to  go  in  and  get  the  two 
bodies.  I  never  traveled  with  a  better  man  than  Pike  Landusky. 
I  was  a  messenger  on  the  stage  coach  in  the  Hills  in  '76.  In 
'77  I  was  at  the  Crow  Agency  and  went  with  Howard  to  Miles' 
battle  field  on  Snake  Creek." 

Few  men  in  Montana  have  a  more  interesting  life  study  than 
the  study  of  this  sketch.  I  regret  very  much  that  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to  get  more  of  the  interesting  incidents  that  have  been  a  part 
of  his  life.  There  is  too  much  of  interest  left  untold  and  before 
long  we  must  get  it  for  the  future  historian.  He  is  the  sub-agent 
of  the  Belknap  Indian  reservation,  and  resides  at  Hayes. 

William  Bent. 

This  man  is  one  who  has  had  a  most  varied  experience. 

The  son  of  Col.  Bent,  the  noted  frontiersman  who  built  Bent's 
Fort  on  the  Arkansas,  in  Colorado,  was  born  in  St.  Louis  in  1 846. 
He  was  the  nephew  of  the  famous  Kit  Carson  by  a  marriage.  Mr. 
Bent  said:  "I  remember  Carson  and  Freemont  and  have  eaten 
with  them  when  they  had  been  at  my  father's  house  after  some 
of  their  trips  that  have  helped  to  make  the  story  of  our  country. 
In  the  light  of  my  own  experience  I  can  come  to  but  one  conclu- 
sion and  that  is  my  Uncle  Kit  was  an  over-rated  man.  These 
same  hair-breadth  escapes,  these  same  trials  caused  by  hunger  and 
cold  have  been  gone  through  by  many  a  man  who  has  helped  to 
make  this  country  and  not  one  word  has  been  written  into  the 
story  of  their  deeds.  Kit  happened  to  have  his  lines  cast  close 
to  those  of  Freemont,  who  had  a  way  of  using  his  pen  to  advan- 
tage; and  getting  himself  into  the  limelight  of  public  opinion  and 
approval.  So  it  has  been  with  many  of  the  men  of  our  frontier. 
The  famous  Buffalo  Bill  never  could  hold  a  dim  light  to  some  of 
the  men  who  are  living  today  in  Blaine  county.  Many  of  these 
may  have  never  been  heard  of  on  account  of  their  modesty." 

William  Bent  is  about  five  feet  and  eight  inches  tall  and 
shows  that  he  has  had  a  good  constitution.  I  do  not  know  what 
the  color  of  his  hair  has  been  but  at  this  time  it  is  gray.  His  eyes 
are  blue  and  his  voice  low  and  pleasing.  There  is  no  sign  of  dis- 
pleasure in  mode  or  jesture,  when  speaking  of  things  which  most 
men  would  rather  forget.  His  whole  make-up  is  one  that  would 
distinguish  him  as  a  plainsman  who  had  been  brought  up  under 
such  an  environment  that  he  has  taken  it  for  granted  that  he  had 
his  life  cut  out  for  him  and  that  it  was  filled,  more  or  less,  with 
enjoyment.     That  he  married  Indian  women  and  made  them  the 


BILL    BENT.  "DADDY"    MINUGH. 

Two  Characters  of  Milk  River. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  S9 

respected  mother  of  his  children  is  something  that  the  ordinary 
reader  unfamiliar  with  the  early  days  of  the  western  territories, 
can  never  be  made  to  understand.  These  men,  like  Bent,  intro- 
duce you  to  their  wives  and  children  with  as  much  pride  as  would 
the  whitest  of  white  men  to  the  whitest  of  white  women.  And 
why  not?  When  these  men  came  to  make  it  possible  for  the 
chicken-hearted,  of  these  days  to  come,  after  all  the  real  rough 
places  had  been  planed  off  the  map,  and  establish  homes  where 
they  can  live  in  no  fear  of  the  wild  beast  or  the  more  savage  men 
who  once  roamed  these  hills,  valleys  and  mountains,  they  did  not 
find  any  other  to  mate  with  but  the  daughters  of  Red  Men.  That 
they  took  them  in  a  legal  way,  some  times,  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
Not  all  of  them  were  high-minded  enough  to  unite  themselves  in 
wedlock  as  many  of  them  simply  bought  their  women  to  discard 
them  and  leave  them  the  fruits  of  that  connection  to  rear  as  best 
they  could. 

No  father  can  love  his  white  child  with  any  more  affection 
than  do  the  fathers  of  these  half-caste  youngsters.  When  I  say 
that  I  mean  any  of  those  men  who  are  worthy  to  be  fathers.  The 
reason  is,  as  explained  to  me  by  one  of  them,  as  follows:  "Can't 
you  understand  that  these  children  are  to  become  handicapped  in 
their  race  for  life  because  of  their  blood?  Well  understanding 
that  you  must  know  that  the  right  kind  of  a  father  feels  that  he 
has  been  responsible  for  their  lot  and  for  that  reason  tries  in  every 
way  possible  to  make  their  lives  as  pleasant  as  he  can  by  throwing 
his  love  and  protection  about  them." 

No  man  has  had  any  more  to  do  with  the  cilivization  of  the 
Milk  river  than  Bill  Bent.  We  will  not  say  that  he  settled  in  this 
section  with  that  end  in  view,  as  that  would  not  be  correct.  The 
establishing  of  the  reservation  was  somewhat  due  to  his  influence 
over  the  Indians  as  well  as  was  the  treaty  to  allow  the  building  of 
the  railroad. 

The  Indians  have  seemed  at  all  times  to  have  had  confidence 
in  him.  Bent  has  not  been  one  who  has  made  it  his  life's  work 
to  profit  by  his  knowledge  of  them  and  of  their  ways. 

He  can  leave  no  other  heritage  than  the  one  that  comes  to 
the  Indian  as  his  right,  the  right  to  select  a  piece  of  land  whenever 
the  reservation  is  thrown  open.  In  other  words,  he  has  not  made 
a  fortune  through  his  connection  with  the  people.  Right  here  I 
want  to  say  that  I  believe  that  the  white  man,  instead  of  teaching 
the  Indian  to  work,  has  himself,  like  the  Indian,  learned  to  follow 
the  lines  of  least  resistance. 

"My  father  was  Col.  Wm.  Bent  who  built  Bent's  fort  on  the 
Arkansas.  Mother  was  Sarah  Sullivan  and  came  from  Indiana. 
Her  folks  before  her  fought  at  Valley  Forge  and  nearly,  as  I 
could  ascertain,  in  every  war  since.     My  father  was  a  frontiers- 


90  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

man  and  had  several  Indian  wives  before  he  married  my  mother. 
He  and  Kit  Carson  married  sisters,  that  is  Indian  women. 

"I  was  born  in  1846  in  St.  Louis.  One  of  my  father's  broth- 
ers was  Provisional  Governor  of  New  Mexico  and  was  killed  by 
the  Mexicans.  Just  when  I  do  not  know.  (It  took  place  in 
1847.)  When  I  was  a  small  boy  I  went  with  Lieut.  Gunnison 
and  his  men  to  explore  the  Gunnison  river.  My  father  supported 
Albert  Sidney  Johnson  during  the  trouble  with  Mexico.  Old 
Col.  Leavenworth  was  also  a  friend  of  father's. 

"I  went  to  school,  in  a  kind  of  private  school  at  St.  Louis,  and 
my  room-mates  were  two  Spaniards  who  were  the  sons  of  Senor 
Romero,  a  minister  to  the  United  States  during  Grant's  admin- 
istration. These  boys  were  Fernando  and  Bernado.  Fernando 
killed  Bernado  while  at  school.  I  remained  in  school  for  quite 
a  long  time  as  mother  was  trying  to  keep  me  out  of  the  war.  An 
uncle  said  I  was  old  enough  to  go  to  war  and  help  save  his 
negroes.  When  mother  died,  as  some  of  my  friends  were  going 
to  join  the  army,  I  went  with  them  and  remained  till  it  was  over. 
I  was  wounded  at  Chickamauga,  in  the  second  day's  fighting. 

"When  I  returned  to  St.  Louis  I  thought  some  of  going  to 
Mexico  to  join  Maximilian  but  instead  drifted  north  and  came  to 
Atchison  and  met  Bill  Anderson,  one  of  Quantrell's  men.  I 
remained  for  a  while  with  an  old  fellow  named  Murphy  and  then 
drifted  west  with  some  people  into  the  Platte  country  and  there 
fell  in  with  a  Spaniard  called  'Sago.'  We  wandered  around  quite 
a  lot  and  at  last  got  into  the  Yellowstone  park  from  which  place 
we  went  via  Bozeman  to  Virginia  City,  where  we  arrived  in 
June,  1 866.  I  did  not  mine,  though  I  was  offered  $8.00  per  day 
to  do  so.  I  left  the  same  summer  and  went  into  Dry  Gulch  near 
Helena.  I  left  Helena  with  Henry  McDonald  and  went  down 
to  the  Musselshell  country.  We  drifted  around  there  until  that 
winter  and  in  1866-7  rode  the  Pony  Express  from  Diamond  Citv 
to  Fort  Hawley  on  the  Missouri. 

'Two  men  always  rode  together.  Two  went  from  Hawley 
to  Wolf  Point.  (That  point  received  its  name  from  a  large  num- 
ber of  wolves  that  had  been  caught  and  piled  up  by  Charlie 
Conklin  and  two  other  fellows,  but  the  Indians  came  and  they 
never  got  a  chance  to  skin  them.)  The  route  extended  on  past 
Union,  Devil's  Lake  to  Fort  Abercombrie,  on  the  Red  River  of 
the  North.  I  quit  riding  the  spring  of  '68.  'Liver  Eating'  John- 
son rode  one  or  two  trips  with  me.  While  I  was  riding  with 
Johnson  was  when  I  first  met  Billy  Cochran;  he  was  camping 
at  the  east  end  of  the  Little  Rockies. 

"In  the  fall  of  1868  they  began  to  hire  men  at  Fort  Benton 
to  build  Fort  Browning  on  Peoples  creek  in  the  Milk  river  coun- 
try.    This  was  about  the  fourth  day  of  August  and  Hubbel  and 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  91 

Hawley,  the  Northwest  Fur  company  hired  the  men  to  build  a 
trading  post  and  a  place  for  a  representative  of  the  government. 
After  the  r*  ort  was  finished  there  were  too  many  men  and  we  were 
told  to  look  out  for  ourselves.  Bill  Hamilton,  one  of  the  men, 
said,  'Boys,  suppose  we  go  into  the  Little  Rockies  and  hunt  for 
gold.'  Bill  would  not  work  at  the  fort  as  he  would  not  work  at 
anything  like  that,  he  was  trapping  and  hunting  most  of  the  time. 
We  formed  a  party  with  Bill  as  leader.  Bill,  Joe  Wye,  Fred 
Merchant,  John  Thomas,  myself  and  three  others  made  the 
party.  This  was  in  the  fall  of  1868.  We  went  round  on  the 
east  end  of  the  mountains  and  prospected  on  Dry  Beaver.  We 
found  gold,  but  not  in  paying  quantities,  and  that  was,  to  my 
knowledge,  the  first  gold  found  in  the  Little  Rockies."  In  reply 
to  a  question  Mr.  Bent  said:  "I  heard,  through  a  man  named 
Grinnell,  that  some  men  who  had  been  mining  in  the  west  went 
east  and  on  their  return  got  off  the  boat  and  went  into  the  Little 
Rockies  and  were  never  heard  of  afterward.  Grinnell  was  later 
killed  by  the  Indians. 

'The  ground  froze  up  on  us  before  we  could  do  much  and 
we  threw  everything  in  the  mining  line  away.  Bill  was  not  very 
religiously  inclined  and  after  the  ground  froze  up  he  cussed 
God  Almighty.  We  killed  some  elk  and  packed  the  skins  to 
Benton.  I  stayed  there  a  while  and  took  supplies  back  for  wolf- 
ing on  the  Milk  river.  The  wolfing  party  consisted  of  the  same 
men  with  the  exception  of  Joe  Wye,  who  would  not  come.  We 
went  on  the  Upper  Milk  river  into  the  Piegan  country."  (Here 
some  incidents  happened  to  come  into  the  old  man's  mind  and  we 
record  them  because  they  are  too  good  to  miss.)  "I  want  to  tell 
you  a  little  story  about  Major  Culbertson  and  Agent  Fenton. 
The  major  was  a  great  lover  of  whisky  and  one  winter  at  Old 
Fort  Belknap  the  major  was  pretty  full  most  all  winter  and  no 
one  could  tell  where  he  was  getting  his  supply.  There  was  a 
cellar  in  the  cabin  in  which  Culbertson  lived  and  Fenton  was 
agent.  That  fall  the  Indians  brought  in  a  two-headed  buffalo 
calf  and  as  it  was  a  curiosity,  Fenton  wished  to  secure  it,  so  he 
could  take  it  the  next  spring  back  to  the  Smithsonian  Institute. 
In  order  to  keep  it  he  sent  for  a  large  keg  or  small  barrel  of 
alcohol  and  putting  the  calf  head  in  it  put  it  down  cellar  for  safe 
keeping.  There  was  no  whisky  to  be  kept  there  as  it  was  an 
Indian  reservation. 

"When  spring  came  the  agent  sent  a  couple  of  men  down  for 
the  keg  and  told  them  it  was  heavy  and  that  they  should  be  care- 
ful not  to  drop  and  break  it.  When  they  got  down  they  found 
ihe  keg  was  not  at  all  heavy  and  so  reported  to  Fenton  who, 
on  examination,  found  that  it  was  too  true  as  there  was  but  little 


92  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

except  dry  calf  heads  as  the  Major  had  found  and  tapped  the 
keg  and  used  the  liquor  for  libations. 

Another  Incident. 

"Old  man  Meldrum  was  trading  down  on  the  Missouri  near 
Fort  Union  one  time  and  some  Indians  came  and  they  seemed  to 
have  something  on  their  minds,  though  he  was  anxious  to  trade 
he  could  only  do  so  when  they  got  good  and  ready.  There  were 
several  different  parties  of  them  and  they  had  been  around  quite 
a  lot  since  he  had  seen  them  and  they  were  recounting  the  strange 
things  they  had  seen  on  their  trips.  One  party  said  they  had  seen 
funny  things  in  the  south  and  the  party  that  thought  they  had  seen 
the  funniest  thing  was  one  that  had  been  to  Fort  Benton.  'We 
have  seen  the  white  man's  mother.'  Meldrum  said:  'Are  you  sure? 
Was  it  the  Queen  of  England  or  was  it  a  white  woman  in  the 
country?'  'No,  it  was  the  white  man's  mother  and  how  different 
from  us  did  God  make  her.  We  were  raised  on  our  mother's 
breast  but  they,  the  white  men,  are  so  different.'  Meldrum  asked 
what  she  looked  like  and  how  she  was  different.  'Well,  it  did 
not  look  like  us,  it  was  spotted  and  had  a  tail.'  The  white  men 
had  a  milk  cow  at  Benton  and  the  Indians  sneaked  up  when  they 
were  milking  and  saw  some  of  them  drinking  the  milk  so  that 
was  the  reason  they  thought  it  was  the  white  man's  mother. 

'The  Indians  claim  that  the  white  men  drove  the  buffalo  back 
into  their  holes  from  which  they  came.  They  had  rounded  them 
all  up,  drove  them  into  the  hole  and  closed  it  up  so  they  could 
not  get  out.  Even  'Old  Nosey,'  the  chief  of  the  Assinniboines, 
could  not  be  argued  out  of  the  question.  He  said  they  had  done 
it  so  as  to  make  the  Indian  come  around  to  the  white  man's  ways. 

"At  the  time  that  Major  Logan  wanted  to  fence  the  reserva- 
tion the  Indians  did  not  want  it  done  as  they  had  been  fooled  so 
often  that  they  were  getting  sore.  They  said  if  I  would  come 
to  the  council  they  would  listen.  It  was  satisfactorily  arranged 
and  the  reserve  was  enclosed. 

"I  have  trapped  on  all  the  streams  of  the  Bear's  Paw  and 
Little  Rockies  and  have  many  experiences.  In  the  fall  of  1869 
a  steamer  was  stuck  on  a  sand  bar  and  could  not  be  moved.  She 
had  a  load  of  supplies,  whisky,  etc.  Major  Reed  said  that  they 
would  go  down  and  wreck  the  boat  as  she  had  a  hole  stove  in 
her.  He  hired  several  men  who  were  around  there  and  took  two 
teams.  Major  went  himself.  I  forget  all  of  them  but  Jim  Wells, 
Anderson,  John  Thomas,  Billie  Smith  and  Steve  Tabor  and 
Jim  Campbell  and  several  others.  They  wanted  me  to  go  but  I 
told  them  they  were  going  to  get  into  trouble,  so  went  into  the 
Little  Rockies  and  put  in  forty-four  days  alone.     This  was  near 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  93 

the  Middle  Butte  on  the  east  end.  I  do  not  think  I  am  supersti- 
tious, but  living  alone  for  that  length  of  time  got  me.  I  got  so 
things  began  to  puzzle  me.  Every  morning  I  would  go  out  and 
get  on  a  big  rock  where  I  could  look  all  about.  When  game 
was  quiet  I  knew  no  Indians  were  about,  if  it  was  moving  I 
knew  that  war  parties  were  out.  My  wolf  baits  kept  me  pretty 
busy,  so  busy  in  fact  that  I  could  not  skin  all  of  them  so  had 
to  pile  them  up.  While  I  was  living  there  alone  the  game  would 
come  right  down  to  the  cabin  but  I  was  afraid  to  shoot  on  account 
of  the  Indians. 

"I  used  the  fat  of  the  wolf  to  fry  my  dough  banks  in.  While 
in  the  camp  that  winter  there  was  one  thing  that  occurred  to  me 
which  I  never  could  understand.  I  had  been  out  all  day,  as  the 
baits  had  turned  up  several  wolves,  and  while  they  were  fresh  I 
skinned  them.  The  result  was  that  when  I  got  back  to  the  cabin 
I  was  very  tired.  It  was  almost  dark  when  I  arrived,  so  I  built  up 
a  good  fire  and  sat  down  in  a  camp  chair  and  began  looking  at 
the  fire  when  all  at  once  I  seemed  to  hear  a  sigh.  There  was 
a  little  hole  that  I  used  for  light  in  one  end  of  the  cabin  not  far 
from  where  I  was  sitting.  When  I  heard  the  noise  or  whatever 
it  was  I  turned  and  cold  see  a  dark  face  and  two  large  eyes  look- 
ing at  me.  I  sat  there  spellbound,  could  not  move  hand  or  foot. 
The  fire  was  burning  brightly  and  my  gun  was  close  to  me,  but 
for  a  time  I  could  not  reach  for  it.  I  can  not  say  how  long  I 
sat  there  but  at  last  I  grabbed  my  gun  and  went  out  but  could  find 
nothing,  not  even  a  track.  That  face  was  just  as  plain  as  yours 
is  at  this  minute,  I  can't  understand  what  it  could  have  been. 

"Another  time  after  I  had  been  out  all  day  with  my  traps  I 
returned  home  late  in  the  afternoon.  I  noticed  some  tracks.  At 
first  I  thought  it  was  a  bear  when  I  remembered  there  were  no 
bears  in  that  section.  Then  I  came  to  the  conclusion  it  was  an 
Indian  hunting  my  cabin.  I  went  into  the  house  and  was  there 
a  little  while  when  I  looked  out  and  noticed  something  moving 
on  the  hillside  toward  the  spring.  I  went  out  where  I  could  have 
a  better  view  and  saw  the  object  get  down  on  all  fours  and  drink. 
When  it  raised  up  I  could  see  it  was  an  Indian  woman,  but  in 
the  most  terrible  condition  I  ever  saw.  I  drew  her  attention  by 
whistling  and  she  made  a  peculiar  noise  through  her  teeth.  Her 
feet  were  bare  and  her  face  was  frozen  till  it  was  black  and  partly 
gone.  I  watched  her  as  she  started  to  move  away  from  me  and 
thought  I  would  shoot  her  and  put  her  out  of  her  misery.  I 
actually  raised  my  gun  to  fire  the  fatal  shot  but  thought  better 
of  it  and  she  left.  I  never  saw  her  afterward,  but  in  relating  my 
story  at  Browning,  some  of  the  Gros  Ventres  hearing  it  said  she 
was  a  Crow.  They  told  the  Crows  about  it  and  a  young  man 
from  that  tribe  came  to  me  and  told  me  that  he  thought  it  must 


94  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

be  his  mother  as  she  had  strayed  off  from  their  camp  and  had 
become  lost.  He  was  very  anxious  to  find  her  and  said  his  folks 
were  wealthy  and  that  he  would  give  me  the  finest  horse  in  the 
Crow  tribe,  besides  other  things,  if  I  would  go  and  try  and  find 
her.     I  never  went. 

The  Steamboat  Party. 

'To  return  to  the  party  under  Major  Reed:  All  the  rest  of 
the  fellows  went  with  the  major.  Moses  Solomon  and  Jimmie 
Dwyer  were  there  also.  They  went  down  to  Peck  first,  then 
started  to  the  wreck  and  when  about  ten  miles  from  that  post 
noticed  some  Indians  in  the  hills.  Some  thought  them  Assinni- 
boines.  Tom  Campbell  did  not  like  their  action  as  he  knew 
Indians  pretty  well.  The  boys  continued  on  their  way,  however, 
and  as  they  were  going  over  some  hills  they  noticed  some  Indians 
on  both  sides.  They  were  not  molested  but  allowed  to  come 
down  from  the  hills  into  the  trap  the  Indians  had  set  for  them. 
The  party  proved  to  be  Santee  Sioux  who  were  hunting  elk. 
Just  as  soon  as  they  got  in  the  bottom  the  Indians  closed  in  on 
them  and  they  tried  to  withdraw  but  the  Indians  kept  them  going 
and  they  began  to  run  their  four-horse  teams  in  order  to  make 
their  getaway  but  the  Indians  were  running  on  both  sides  of  the 
teams  and  soon  began  to  fire  on  them.  They  shot  one  of  the 
leaders  in  Mose  Solomon's  team.  Mose  then  cut  his  other  horses 
loose  from  the  wagon  and  the  other  boys  jumped  off  and  ran 
for  a  cut  bank  that  was  close  by.  They  jumped  over  the  bank 
into  the  willows  but  before  they  got  there  they  killed  McGregor, 
John  Thomas,  Steve  Tabor  and  Montgomery.  In  the  meantime 
Mose  and  Jimmie  Dwyer  had  jumped  on  a  mule  and  started  to 
get  away  with  the  Indians  after  them.  They  shot  Mose  in  one 
foot  and  one  bullet  passed  between  them  without  injury.  The 
other  fellows  were  held  in  the  willows.  Some  of  the  Indians 
came  up  on  one  side  and  some  on  the  other  and  they  were  so 
close,  so  the  boys  said,  that  they  could  hear  them  drop  their  trade 
balls  into  their  guns.  Billie  Smith  killed  one  of  the  most  noted 
Indians  in  the  Sioux  nation  in  that  fight.  The  boys  were  held 
in  the  brush  till  night,  when  they  abandoned  their  wagons  and 
walked  back  to  Peck.  Tom  Campbell  escaped  on  a  big  black 
horse  that  belonged  to  me  and  brought  the  news  to  Peck. 

The  Nez  Perce  Campaign. 

"A  year  before  the  battle,  where  Joseph  was  captured  by 
Col.  Miles,  there  were  a  lot  of  Nez  Perces  that  came  down  with 
horses  to  trade  and  some  which  they  gave  away  as  presents  to 
the  Assinniboines.     They  told  them  that  they  expected  to  have 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  95 

trouble  with  the  whites  in  the  country  where  they  lived.  It  appears 
that  some  of  the  Nez  Perces  agreed  to  the  selling  of  a  certain  part 
of  their  reserve  in  Idaho  but  that  a  large  number  opposed  it  but 
anyway  the  Government  allowed  them  to  be  crowded  off  without 
their  consent.  They  tried  to  remain  anyway  but  their  agent  told 
them  they  must  move  to  another  place.  They  explained  that  it 
would  never  do  as  their  stock  would  be  sure  to  go  back  to  the  old 
range  and  then  there  would  be  trouble  with  the  whites  as  they 
would  never  let  them  get  their  stock  once  it  got  in  their  possession. 
They  were  right  about  this,  because  it  actually  happened.  A 
short  time  before  the  battle  I  was  at  Old  Fort  Belknap  when  I 
received  word  from  Fort  Benton.  Major  Algers  was  in  charge 
of  a  little  band  of  troops  there  and  he  sent  word  to  me  to  keep 
the  Indians  well  in  hand  as  the  Nez  Perces  were  traveling  this 
way  and  were  fighting  down  on  the  Missouri.  Murray  Nichol- 
son and  Eph  Woolsey  had  been  paid  $500.00  to  bring  me  the 
letter. 

"I  at  once  called  the  Indians  together  in  council  and  told  them 
that  the  people  who  were  here  the  summer  before  with  all  the 
horses  and  presents  were  fighting  the  soldiers  and  that  the  soldiers 
were  after  them  and  coming  this  way  and  that  the  best  thing  they 
could  do  would  be  not  to  have  anything  to  do  with  them  as  the 
soldiers  would  punish  all  they  found  in  arms.  In  less  than  an 
hour's  time  after  the  council  was  over  some  of  the  Nez  Perces 
came.  The  majority  of  the  Nez  Perces  were  south  of  the  Mis- 
souri and  coming  toward  the  Bear's  Paw.  There  were  five  Nez 
Perces  that  came.  About  two  days  after,  quite  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, we  heard  scattering  shots  south  of  us,  between  us  and  the 
Bear's  Paw.  The  Indians  who  were  out  in  the  hills  came  in  and 
said  there  was  lots  of  shooting  and  they  thought  there  must  be  a 
battle.  A  little  snow  fell  that  night,  about  an  inch.  That  evening 
we  heard  the  big  guns  and  I  said  the  fight  is  on.  The  next  day  we 
still  heard  the  shooting  and  I  was  holding  the  Indians  as  close  as 
I  could.  Some  of  them  wanted  to  go  and  find  out  what  was  going 
on,  but  I  told  them  it  would  be  better  for  me  to  go  for  if  I  ran 
into  the  soldiers  I  would  be  safe.  So  I  started  and  kept  going 
toward  the  sound  and  got  south  of  the  West  Fork  of  Snake  creek 
and  it  became  so  dark  that  all  I  could  see  was  the  flashes  of 
the  guns  once  in  a  while.  I  got  up  to  where  I  could  see  the 
pickets  in  one  place  and  laid  down  and  waited  till  morning.  As 
soon  as  it  was  light  enough  I  went  to  one  of  the  men  on  picket 
and  explained  who  I  was  and  he  told  me  to  go  in.  I  could  see  the 
whole  thing,  the  pits  of  the  Indians,  and  the  breastworks  of  the 
soldiers,  and  away  back  were  the  tents.  I  went  over  and  reported 
to  Miles.  My  first  attempt  was  not  very  successful  for  I  saw 
a  fellow  all  togged  out  whom  I  saluted  as  I  was  sure  it  was  the 


96  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

general,  but  noticed  that  some  of  them  laughed  and  pointed  to 
another,  Miles  himself.  In  my  report  I  told  him  what  the  Assin- 
niboines  were  doing  and  the  orders  I  had  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment through  Algers.  He  told  me  to  go  back  and  keep  them  in 
hand  and  see  that  they  did  not  get  in  the  fight.  I  called  his  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  his  was  but  a  handful  compared  with  the 
number  of  Sioux  who  were  at  Pinto  Horse  Butte  under  Sitting 
Bull  and  that  it  was  only  seventy  miles,  which  would  be  but  a 
short  ride  for  an  Indian.  I  also  told  him  that  all  of  his  pits  were 
a  defense  on  the  side  toward  the  Nez  Perces  and  that  if  the 
Sioux  came  he  would  be  in  a  bad  fix  as  they  would  come  in  from 
the  rear.  (The  Nez  Perces  had  sent  for  the  Sioux  but  they  did 
not  come.) 

"After  going  back  and  telling  the  Assinniboines  what  Miles 
had  said  I  returned  to  the  battlefield.  I  think  it  was  the  fourth 
day  of  the  fight  that  Miles,  Sweeny,  Arthur  Chapman,  an  inter- 
preter from  Idaho,  Captain  John,  a  Nez  Perce,  and  myself  went 
down  to  have  a  talk  with  the  Indians.  John  was  sent  down  into 
the  pit  to  talk  with  the  Nez  Perces  while  we  laid  down  peeping 
over  a  hill.  He  rode  a  pinto  horse  with  a  hospital  sheet  tied  to 
a  pole.  He  would  stop  and  wave  the  flag  and  halloo  at  them 
and  at  last  he  was  allowed  to  approach  near  enough  to  carry  on 
a  conversation.  You  could  still  see  them  throwing  out  the  dirt, 
as  they  were  occupying  all  their  spare  time  fortifying.  After  a 
little  some  of  the  Indians  came  out  and  John  went  out  of  sight 
for  a  few  minutes  and  then  appeared  again  with  six  or  seven  of 
them.  They  all  had  their  guns  with  them  and  Miles  said  to 
Chapman:  'You  tell  those  fellows  not  to  use  any  treachery  be- 
cause there  are  hundreds  of  men  looking  through  their  sights  ready 
to  shoot.'  They  shook  their  heads  and  came  on.  Of  course  we 
did  not  know  who  they  were.  We  started  towards  Miles'  tent 
but  as  a  lot  of  officers  began  to  crowd  around,  the  Indians  stopped 
and  Miles  said  to  Arthur:  'What's  the  matter  with  them?' 
Chapman  replied  that  they  did  not  like  the  officers  to  be  so  handy 
so  Miles  ordered  them  back  as  they  were  confusing  the  Indians. 
We  all  went  over  to  Miles'  tent  and  he  got  some  camp  stools  for 
the  Indians,  but  not  enough  as  some  had  to  sit  on  the  ground. 
They  sat  there  a  while  and  then  he  said  that  they  had  better  have 
a  smoke  but  for  the  Indians  to  furnish  the  tobacco  as  then  they 
would  be  sure  it  was  all  right.  After  a  while  Miles  began  to  talk. 
He  said  that  it  pained  him  to  do  what  he  was  doing  but  it  was 
his  duty.  They  did  not  make  any  reply.  Captain  Baird  and 
another  officer  were  taking  down  everything  that  was  being  said 
in  writing.  When  Miles  was  talking  he  was  addressing  a  very 
fine  tall  Indian  who  was  sitting  on  a  stool  not  far  away.  When 
Chapman  was  doing  his  interpreting  he  was  looking  and  talking 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  07 

to  an  Indian  sitting  on  the  ground.  The  Indian  to  whom  Miles 
was  talking  would  hardly  say  anything  but  the  Indian  sitting  on 
the  ground  would  smile.  A  little  while  after  I  noticed  an  old 
gray-haired  officer  come  in  and  stand  way  back,  he  only  had 
one  arm  and  the  coat  sleeve  was  pinned  across  his  breast.  As 
soon  as  the  Indians  saw  him  they  seemed  to  be  awful  angry,  their 
eyes  blazed.     This  was  Howard. 

"Miles  once  more  addressed  the  Indian  sitting  on  the  stool 
and  asked  him  if  he  hadn't  had  enough  of  this  by  now.  But  the 
Indian  did  not  reply.  Miles  turned  to  Chapman  and  looked  for 
an  answer.  Chapman  had  noticed  that  Miles  had  addressed  all 
his  talk  to  the  particular  Indian  who  would  not  reply  and  as  Miles 
looked  at  him  he  said  (pointing  to  the  one  on  the  ground)  Why 
don't  you  ask  him?  Miles  said:  'Who  is  he?'  'That's  the 
leader,  Chief  Joseph.'  Miles  was  surprised  but  he  got  up  and 
handed  his  stool  to  the  Chief  and  from  that  time  all  his  remarks 
were  made  to  the  proper  person.  Joseph  said  that  White  Bird 
did  not  want  to  surrender  and  that  he  would  take  one  more  night 
so  as  to  give  him  a  chance  to  think  it  over.  During  that  night 
White  Bird  escaped  with  his  two  wives  and  went  over  the  line. 
The  next  day,  the  last  day  of  the  fight,  Miles  said:  'I  want 
you  to  go  down  to  the  river  and  tell  the  Indians  down  there  not 
to  kill  any  more  Nez  Perces.  About  seven  Nez  Perces  were 
killed  by  the  Assinniboines. 

'The  day  that  Joseph  surrendered  he  said  he  thought  the 
river  was  the  line  and  that  the  Indians  would  be  friendly  but  as 
they  were  enemies  he  would  give  up.  He  handed  his  gun,  muzzle 
first,  to  Howard  but  Howard  said:  'No,  that  man,  pointing  to 
Miles,  is  the  one  who  won  it.'  He  then  turned  and  handed  his 
gun,  butt  first,  to  Miles.  I  have  always  thought  that  if  Howard 
had  reached  for  that  gun  he  would  have  been  shot. 

My  Capture  by  the  Nez  Perces. 

"When  I  left  the  battlefield  to  go  to  the  river  to  tell 
the  Indians  what  Miles  had  said  I  was  captured  by  some  of  the 
Nez  Perces  that  had  escaped.  One  of  them  talked  to  me  and 
said:  'You  are  a  soldier.'  To  this  I  said  'No.'  He  said:  'You 
are  a  liar  you  are  a  soldier  and  you  came  right  from  them  and  we 
saw  you.'  I  replied  that  I  was  not  a  soldier  but  belonged  on  the 
river  and  that  my  children  were  the  offspring  of  an  Indian  mother. 
They  asked  me  if  I  was  living  with  the  Indians  to  talk  some  of  the 
language  to  them.  I  talked  Crow  and  made  several  attempts  to 
talk  several  different  Indian  tongues  so  they  would  know  that 
I  was  not  lying.  Then  they  noticed  the  horse  which  I  was  riding 
and  it  belonged  to  the  Government.     'Why  are  you  riding  a  Gov- 


98  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

ernment  horse  if  you  are  not  a  soldier?'  I  told  them  that  I  had 
a  small  pony  which  had  played  out  and  that  Miles  had  given  me 
this  one  so  I  could  go  down  to  the  river  and  do  some  good  work 
for  them.  I  swore  to  God  in  the  Indian  fashion  that  I  was  telling 
the  truth,  and  they  shook  hands  with  me  and  told  me  to  ride  and 
ride  fast.  I  started  out  but  turned  back  to  say  something  but 
they  motioned  me  to  keep  going  on  and  I  took  them  at  their 
word.  Miles  had  offered  me  twenty-five  ponies,  the  pick  of  the 
band,  and  five  hundred  dollars  for  the  capture  of  White  Bird, 
dead  or  alive." 

Bent  is  at  this  date,  May,  1917,  near  the  reservation. 

Ranch  Mouth  Snake  Creek, 
Fort  Belknap  Ind.  Reservation,  7/30 — 1915. 
Mr.  Thos.  Dowen,  Chinook,  Mont. 

Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  the  20th  just  received.  In  replying 
I  would  say  the  small  brass  cannon,  you  mention  in  your  letter, 
was  brought  to  the  territory,  now  the  State  of  Montana,  early  in 
1850  in  mackinaws  (boats)  cordelled  by  Choteau's  men,  or  by 
Alex  Culbertson  to  Fort  Union  (afterward  Fort  Buford) ,  then 
again  to  Fort  Benton  by  river;  then  again  down  the  river  to  Fort 
Hawley,  above  the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell  river,  then  when 
this  place  (Hawley)  was  abandoned  in  1868  it  was  hauled  by 
bull  team  to  the  new  Fort  Browning,  on  Milk  river.  I  was  then 
at  Fort  Browning  helping  to  build  this  post  when  the  two  cannon 
were  brought  there  by  the  Northwest  Fur  company  by  Louis 
Hubble  and  Geo.  Boyd  in  charge.  The  mate  of  this  gun  is  at 
Fort  Belknap  Agency  now.  When  we  abandoned  old  Fort 
Browning  in  about  1 870  we  hauled  most  everything  up  to  the 
new  post,  Fort  Belknap  then  being  built  up  to  near  where  Chinook 
is  now.  As  we  had  hauled  about  everything  our  last,  next  trip, 
was  to  be  some  flooring  we  had  torn  up,  and  the  two  brass  cannon, 
one  in  the  northeast  and  the  other  in  the  southwest  bastions  (block 
houses)  corners  of  the  stockade.  In  making  our  next  to  last  trip 
we  had  not  gone  ten  miles,  when,  looking  back,  we  saw  an 
immense  column  of  black  smoke  and  a  little  while  after  saw  a 
war  party  of  hostile  Sioux  Indians  following  us.  We  then  knew 
they  had  burnt  the  abandoned  old  Fort.  We  had  left  nobody  there. 
Afterwards  when  we  went  back  we  found  the  old  Fort  partly 
destroyed;  that  is  the  southwest  bastion,  was  completely  burned. 
This  cannon  you  are  asking  about  was  in  this  fire  (bastion)  ;  the 
other  cannon,  its  mate,  was  taken  up  to  new  Belknap,  near  where 
Chinook  now  is ;  then  afterwards  to  the  new  Agency  near  Harlem. 
These  small  guns  were  used  twice  at  Browning  on  the  hostiles. 
We  also  used  them  to  salute  the  friendlys,  when  large  trading 


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THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  99 

parties,  loaded  with  buffalo  robes  and  skins,  came  in  to  trade  with 
us.  There  was  never  any  military  or  soldiers  stationed  at  old 
Browning,  only  once,  Maj.  Freeman  with  two  companies  of  infan- 
try stayed  at  old  Fort  Browning  about  one  month,  no  others.  The 
most  important  man  in  Indian  affairs  here  then  was  Maj.  A.  J. 
Simons;   (Alex  Culbertson  and  myself,  his  interpreters.) 

Yours  respectfully, 

W.  BENT. 

Harlem,  Montana. 

If  there  is  any  more  information  you  would  like  on  this  sub- 
ject, please  let  me  know. 

Joseph  Mosser. 

"I  was  born  in  Alsace,  France,  July  1  Oth,  1 840.  I  came  to 
the  U.  S.  in  1 846,  to  New  Orleans.  We  came  in  an  old  sailing 
vessel  and  were  sixty-one  days  on  the  ocean.  My  grandfather 
was  with  Napoleon  and  was  one  of  the  few  who  came  back  from 
Moscow.  (His  name  was  Joseph  Martin.)  We  did  not  remain 
very  long  in  New  Orleans,  but  went  to  Kenton  county,  Kentucky. 
I  remember  seeing  Daniel  Boone's  name  carved  on  a  tree  on  the 
Licking  river.  The  date  was  there  but  I  do  not  at  this  time  recall 
it.  We  farmed  in  the  summer  and  in  the  winter  took  bolting  and 
staves  down  to  Cincinnati  in  flat  boats.  I  was  in  New  Orleans 
in  '61  when  the  war  broke  out,  when  the  first  gun  was  fired  at 
Fort  Sumpter.  We  got  a  steamboat  and  were  captured  at  Helena, 
Arkansas,  and  held  three  days.  They  had  a  grudge  against  Cin- 
cinnati as  arms  were  coming  from  that  city  to  Arkansas.  The 
boat  was  the  Queen  of  the  West.  When  I  arrived  in  Cincinnati 
I  tried  to  enlist  but  they  would  not  accept  me  as  they  said  my 
lungs  were  too  weak.  We  leased  a  farm  and  moved  to  it  in  '64. 
In  '64  I  left  St.  Louis  for  Fort  Benton  on  the  steamer  Benton. 
Thomas  Ray  was  captain  and  Henry  A.  Dolman  chief  clerk. 
We  arrived  at  Benton,  June,  '64.  I  did  not  go  to  the  mines  as  I 
saw  too  many  who  said  provisions  were  so  high  that  a  small 
amount  of  money  would  only  last  a  short  time,  so  I  returned  to 
St.  Louis  on  the  same  boat.  I  worked  up  and  back  and  received 
$65  per  month.  When  we  arrived  at  St.  Louis  I  was  put  on  as 
watchman  for  a  few  trips  to  Cairo.  I  was  in  business  in  Cincin- 
nati from  the  summer  of  1 864  to  1 868,  and  again  went  to  work 
on  the  Success,  under  the  same  captain  and  clerk  that  had  run  on 
the  Benton.  After  reaching  Benton  I  went  back  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Musselshell,  then  called  Kirtzville,  at  that  time  supposed  to 
be  the  county  seat  of  Dawson  county.  James  Brewer  (who  was 
afterwards  at  White  Sulphur  Springs)  was  Sheriff.  Bert  Whit- 
son  and  some  other  man  were  the  County  Commissioners;   no 


100  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

Judge,  just  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  I  was  appointed  Deputy 
Sheriff  to  care  for  some  property  (cord  wood  and  a  yoke  of 
cattle) .  There  were  two  stores  there  at  that  time,  George  Clen- 
denning-Montana  Hide  and  Fur  company,  and  Jacob  Smith 
at  the  head  of  a  Helena  firm.  I  put  in  my  time  at  that  place  till 
some  time  early  in  the  winter  chopping  wood.  About  Christmas 
I  went  to  Rocky  Point  and  worked  for  Lohmire  and  Lee,  who 
had  a  wood  yard.  I  worked  for  them  until  the  spring  of  '69, 
when  I  went  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell  with  John 
Duffy  in  a  skiff.  It  was  only  a  short  time  after  we  arrived  there 
that  the  fight  took  place  between  the  men  in  the  post  and  the 
Santee  Sioux.  It  was  ten  or  eleven  in  the  morning  when  about 
125  or  1 50  Indians  got  themselves  in  readiness  to  wipe  us  out. 
The  first  we  knew  we  saw  them  on  a  rise  a  short  distance  away, 
waving  their  blankets  and  shouting  that  we  were  dogs,  cowards 
and  everything  they  could  think  of  to  belittle  one.  They  shouted 
that  we  dare  not  fight.     Finally  one  of  the  boys  said:      'Let's 

give  the a  go  anyway.'    To  this  the  others  agreed.     Clen- 

denning  said  that  that  would  be  all  right,  but  not  to  leave  the 
place  in  his  care  all  together  as  we  might  get  into  something 
that  we  could  not  carry  through  in  the  best  kind  of  shape,  or,  in 
other  words,  we  might  get  wiped  out.  Some  ten  or  twenty  stayed 
with  him. 

'There  was  a  deep,  cut  bank  coulee  that  ran  into  the  Mus- 
selshell, a  short  distance  from  the  fort,  and  fifty  or  sixty  of  the 
enemy  got  into  that  thinking  to  cut  us  off  from  the  fort  when 
we  went  after  the  fellows  on  the  hill.  If  it  had  not  been  for 
Jake  Leader's  dog  we  would  no  doubt  have  fallen  into  their  trap. 
The  dog  scented  the  Indians  and  looked  over  at  them  and  Jake 
followed  him  up  and  was  peaking  over  when  an  Indian  shot  him 
in  the  point  of  his  nose  and  the  bullet  came  out  the  back  of  his 
head.  (See  the  Story  of  Billy  Cochran) .  After  this  four  men 
went  across  the  Musselshell  in  a  skiff,  and  came  up  opposite  this 
hole  and  began  to  throw  shots  in  so  fast  the  Indians  could  not 
stand  it  so  that  they  had  to  get  out.  Thirty-one  or  thirty-two 
of  them  were  killed.  These  men  were  Frank  Smith,  James 
Wells,  Joe  Girard,  a  little  Frenchman,  and  someone  else. 
(Cochran  says  Frank  Smith.  Jim  Wells,  G.  R.  Norris  and  him- 
self were  the  four  men) .  The  fight  did  not  last  long  after  it  got 
well  started,  maybe  one-half  hour.  The  Indians  were  too  badly 
scared  to  return  but  kept  running  as  long  as  they  could,  but  some 
got  so  full  of  lead  that  they  had  to  stop.  The  last  one  to  get 
out  of  the  hole  was  a  half-breed  boy  who  ran  toward  the  whites 
and  said:     'Me  good  Injun,'  to  which  'Liver  Eating'  Johnson 

replied:     'If  you  are  good  you  are  in  d d  bad  company,' 

and  raising  his  gun  killed  him.     Then  he  took  out  his  knife  and 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  101 

cut  out  the  liver  and  putting  one  end  of  it  in  his  mouth  took  his 
knife  and  cut  off  a  piece  and  said:  'Boys  try  a  piece  of  this, 
it  is  as  good  as  antelope  liver.'  This  act  gave  J.  J.  Johnson 
the  name  which  he  ever  afterwards  carried,  'Liver  Eating'  John- 
son. Soon  after  this  fight  I  went  up  to  Rocky  Point  on  the  first 
boat.  In  those  days  if  a  person  wanted  to  go  any  where  he  was 
careful  not  to  start  till  it  was  dark  as  the  Indians  were  always 
lying  in  wait  for  him.  I  was  in  a  good  many  scraps  with  the 
Indians  but  was  very  lucky  in  getting  out  whole.  Three  of  the 
boys  were  killed  at  Carroll  Point.  They  were  old  man  Lee, 
Drew  Denton  and  Charlie  Williams.  These  men  were  going 
along  the  river  when  they  saw  the  Indians  and  they  got  into 
some  brush  to  hide,  but  the  Indians  saw  the  tracks  and  charged 
their  position.  Old  man  Lee  was  killed  when  he  rose  up  and  said 
'How,  How.'  He  was  shot  in  the  head.  Williams  was  flesh 
wounded  in  the  shoulder;  he  had  a  lot  of  cartridges  and  a  bul- 
let hit  some  of  them  and  they  exploded  and  he  cried  out:  'God, 
Drew,  I'm  blown  up.'  Drew  replied:  'Never  mind  that,  keep 
shooting.'  That  same  bunch  of  Indians  were  at  my  place  that 
morning  and  had  run  us  into  the  stockade.  (This  was  in  April, 
1870.)  Drew  and  Williams  came  up  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river  from  us  and  shouted  across  to  us  and  we  went  over  and 
got  them  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  They  said  they  had 
fought  the  Sioux  all  day  and  that  old  Lee  was  dead.  We  went 
down  about  two  days  after  this  and  buried  him,  close  to  where 
he  fell.  There  was  evidence  of  a  good  sized  scrap.  The  Indians 
told  some  one  that  they  lost  eleven  men  at  that  time.  This  was 
at  Carroll  Point.  They  were  trying  to  make  it  the  head  of 
navigation,  instead  of  Benton.  I  quit  the  river  in  1871  as  the 
boats  quit  running,  to  any  extent,  and  most  all  the  wood  yards 
were  abandoned.  I  had  only  made  a  living  during  my  business 
career  on  the  Missouri.  I  had  five  hundred  cords  of  wood  (that 
went  into  the  river  afterwards)  and  one  yoke  of  cattle  which  were 
killed  by  the  Reds,  so  I  backed  the  wagon  into  the  river  and 
let  go  too.  I  did  this  to  keep  the  Indians  from  getting  the  spokes 
with  which  they  made  handles  for  their  whips.  I  had  made 
more  money  chopping  wood  for  three  dollars  per  cord  than  I  had 
in  running  the  business  for  myself.  There  were  only  six  boats  up 
the  river  in  1870  and  as  high  as  forty  were  running  in  the  old 
days  before  the  railroad  was  built  to  Corrinne.  The  railroad 
changed  the  conditions  on  the  upper  Missouri.  WTien  in  the 
wood  business  on  the  river  we  trapped  and  hunted  and  tried  to 
make  a  little  extra  money  in  that  way.  Wolf  hides  were  $2.50; 
coyote,  $1.25;  lynx,  $5.00;  bobcats,  $1.50;  foxes,  $1.25.  In 
1870  I  went  to  work  for  Tom  Bogy  at  Claggett  (old  Camp 
Cook) .     That  was  the  year  that  Billy  Claggett  was  elected  to 


102  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

Congress.  The  vote  for  him  at  that  place  was  unanimous.  There 
were  only  five  of  us,  just  enough  for  three  judges  and  two  clerks. 
That  night  we  sat  in  a  game  of  freeze  out  and  played  to  see 
who  would  have  the  pay  we  were  to  get  as  judges  and  clerks  of 
the  election.  I  won  the  pot  and  sold  my  script  to  Tom  Powers 
for  sixty  cents  on  the  dollar.  I  was  helping  Bogy  at  anything 
needed  and  would  have  charge  of  the  store  whenever  he  was 
away.  We  had  four  horses  which  the  Indians  swam  the  Missouri 
and  stole  from  us.  I  had  gone  to  get  them,  not  knowing  that 
there  were  any  Indians  near.  The  boys  shouted  for  me  to  come 
and,  supposing  the  Reds  were  right  on  top  of  me,  crawled  under 
a  cut  bank.  These  were  Fort  Peck  Indians,  as  we  got  the  horses 
back  from  them  a  little  later. 

'To  go  back  a  little  in  my  experience  on  the  river.  I  will  say 
that  in  '64  we  had  left  a  barge  at  Fort  Benton  as  he  had  adver- 
tised that  we  would  take  passengers.  We  had  gone  down  to 
Fort  Gilpin  (Gilpin  was  an  old  Indian  trader)  for  freight  but 
could  not  get  back  on  account  of  low  water.  While  near  this 
place  we  were  cutting  wood  when  the  Indians  came  and  chased 
us  back  on  the  boat — only  one  man  was  hit.  This  was  my 
first  experience  with  wild  Indians  in  their  real  wild  state.  I 
did  not  think  that  these  fellows  meant  any  trouble  till  they  began 
to  shoot.  I  made  for  the  boat  under  a  cut  bank,  stubbed  my  toe 
and  fell  over  and  over.  I  heard  one  of  the  boys  say  'They  have 
got  one  of  our  men.'     I  raised  up  running  and  replied  'Not  by  a 

d n  sight.'      I  was  soon  on  board.     We  cut  the  line  and 

throwed  the  anchor  out  till  we  could  get  up  steam.  We  wanted 
to  get  an  Indian  head  for  a  trophy  to  stick  up  on  the  flag  staff. 
We  were  never  able  to  get  it  as  there  were  too  many  Reds  out 
there  in  the  timber  and  the  boys  kept  shouting  for  us  to  come  in 
as  they  could  see  the  enemy  all  about  us. 

"We  had  to  wait  for  the  barge  before  we  could  pull  out. 
When  it  did  come  it  had  forty  or  fifty  men  who  were  going  down 
with  us.  We  sold  the  barge  and  pulled  out.  It  was  no  picnic 
in  those  days  steamboating  on  the  Missouri.  In  1 872  I  left  Ben- 
ton and  went  to  Bismark  and  from  there  to  Covington,  Ky., 
where  I  bought  a  news  stand  in  the  postoffice.  It  was  only  a 
short  time  after  this  when  carriers  were  established  and  the  peo- 
ple no  longer  came  after  their  mail,  so  it  broke  me.  Jesse  R. 
Grant,  the  father  of  General  U.  S.  Grant,  was  the  postmaster  at 
that  time. 

"In  seventy-five  I  came  back  to  Claggett,  as  Bogy  had  kept 
writing  to  me.  This  gave  me  a  job  as  soon  as  I  got  off  the  boat. 
(Bogy  sold  soon  after  this  to  Jim  Wells.)  Bogy  was  to  go  north 
and  establish  a  line  of  posts  so  went  east  for  goods.  I  did  not 
go  with  him  as  T.  C.  Power  wanted  me  to  stay  with  Wells.     I 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  103 

remained  at  this  place  till  March,  '76,  and  went  to  Benton  and 
became  a  watchman  on  the  levee,  as  they  did  not  have  warehouse 
room. 

"In  June  I  went  to  Bismark  and  from  there  to  the  Black  Hills, 
Deadwood,  seeking  a  fortune  in  gold  mines,  chasing  fantoms  as 
it  were.  I  stayed  there  till  '78,  but  did  not  succeed.  I  got  into 
Deadwood  a  few  days  before  Wild  Bill  was  killed  and  heard 
the  shot  that  killed  him.     That  was  truly  a  tough  place. 

'Those  were  the  days  when  the  Indians  were  bad.  In  fact, 
they  had  become  such  a  menace  that  the  merchants  of  Deadwood 
offered  a  bounty  of  $25  for  all  Indian  heads  brought  in.  A 
greaser  brought  one  in  and  collected  his  pay  and  a  short  time 
after  this  a  Texan  came  riding  up  the  street  (Main  street)  with 
an  Indian  head  tied  to  the  end  of  his  lariat,  quirting  his  horse  all 
the  way  up.  He  made  such  a  show  of  himself  that  he  could 
not  collect  the  bounty.  He  was  very  angry  and  said:  'You 
would  pay  a  greaser  but  you  would  not  pay  a  white  man.' 

"Calamity  Jane  came  in  with  Crook's  soldiers.  She  was  a 
mighty  fine  looking  girl.     She  always  dressed  in  buckskins. 

"I  left  the  Black  Hills  and  went  to  Old  Fort  Belknap  and 
went  to  work  for  Tom  O'H anion.  We  had  come  from  the 
'Hills'  on  horseback  but  had  no  trouble.  Major  Lincoln  was  the 
agent  in  those  days. 

"I  remained  for  two  years  with  O'Hanlon  and  then  bought 
a  freight  team  and  began  to  haul  from  Benton  to  Belknap.  Fort 
Assinniboine  was  started  in  '79.  I  hauled  freight  to  it  also,  from 
Rocky  Point. 

"I  also  hauled  grain  from  Maple  Creek,  Canada,  to  Assinni- 
boine. T.  C.  Power  had  had  the  contract  to  furnish  corn  and 
oats  to  the  post  and  as  the  grain  could  not  come  up  the  river  on 
account  of  low  water  the  grain  was  shipped  in  bond  to  Canada 
on  the  Canadian  railroad  and  hauled  to  Assinniboine  by  team. 
Major  Field,  who  succeeded  Lincoln  at  Belknap,  was  a  mighty 
fine  man  and  though  this  was  an  Indian  Reservation  he  told  me 
he  had  inside  information  that  the  reservation  would  soon  be 
thrown  open  and  that  I  had  better  settle  some  place — any  place  I 
chose. 

"In  1884  I  cut  1260  tons  of  hay  on  Big  Sandy  for  the  Post 
at  two  dollars  per  ton,  cutting  and  bunching.  Broadwater  had 
the  contract  and  got  twenty  dollars  delivered. 

"Owing  to  the  advice  of  Field  I  went  to  Clear  Creek  and 
located  a  ranch  about  thirty  miles  from  Chinook.  I  put  the  first 
trout  into  that  stream  that  were  ever  in  it,  they  were  furnished 
by  the  Government  and  had  come  from  Colorado,  8,000  finger- 
lings.     There  had  been  no  trout  in  any  of  the  streams  that  ran 


104  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

to  the  Milk  river.     There  were  some  on  the  south  side  in  Eagle 
and  Birch.     Birch  was  full  of  them  in  1 876. 

"Bear's  Paw  was  full  of  elk,  deer,  mountain  sheep  and  buf- 
falo. One  season  a  party  of  us  had  come  to  hunt  elk  in  the 
Bear's  Paw  but  the  buffalo  had  eaten  the  grass  off  so  we  had 
to  go  back.  On  this  trip  I  got  snow  blind  and  they  had  to  tie  me 
on  my  horse  and  take  me  back  to  the  Musselshell. 

"I  run  cattle  and  horses  on  my  Clear  Creek  ranch  till  1916, 
when  I  sold  out  and  moved  to  Chinook  to  reside.  I  had  seen  the 
oats  grow  in  favorable  seasons  in  the  tracks  of  the  roundup 
wagons  but  could  not  believe  that  such  land  would  ever  grow 
crops  in  paying  quantities.  I  had  seen  Milk  River  without  any 
water  except  what  was  in  holes  and  the  fact  that  Old  Fort 
Belknap  was  located  where  it  was,  was  because  there  was  a 
large  hole  there  that  never  went  dry. 

'The  cattle  business  began  in  '78  in  a  small  way  by  Tom 
O'Hanlon  and  others.  The  cattle  had  to  be  close  herded.  Al 
Shultz  was  foreman  of  the  company  a  little  later. 

"Permission  had  to  be  gotten  from  the  Government  or  agent 
who  had  secured  the  privilege  from  the  Government.  As  to 
sheep,  I  can  not  say  who  really  did  try  them  out  first.  Frank 
Sa3/er  brought  in  some  in  '89  and  B.  G.  Olsen  came  in  '89  or  '90. 
They  had  them  down  on  the  east  end  of  Bear's  Paw. 

"Old  Fort  Belknap  was  built  of  cottonwood  logs  cut  on 
Milk  river.  I  contracted  to  cut  and  haul  some  fir  logs  with  which 
to  construct  buildings  in  '86.  This  timber  was  secured  in  the 
Bear's  Paw  and  hauled  thirty  miles.  Two  of  these  buildings 
still  stand  on  the  old  Agency  about  500  yards  from  the  old 
buildings. 

"In  trading  with  the  Indians  the  value  was  according  to  the 
Indian's  desire.  A  sky-blue  bead  that  was  purchased  at  the  cost 
of  fifty  or  sixty  cents  per  gross  would  be  exchanged  for  a  robe 
worth  five  or  six  dollars  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  beads  for  a  robe. 

"As  we  are  talking  and  thinking  of  these  things  I  recall  in  a 
way  many  things  that  I  could  not  think  of  as  they  appeared,  con- 
secutively, but  one  thing  I  now  recall  was  that  only  a  short  time 
after  the  battle  at  the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell  in  '69,  probably 
that  same  fall,  a  number  of  Indians  came  one  day  without  their 
women  or  children  and  said  they  would  like  to  trade.  One 
of  the  men  who  could  understand  them  told  Clendenning  that 
they  were  not  there  on  any  legitimate  business  and  that  we  must 
watch  them.  They  examined  the  goods,  asked  prices,  and  told 
what  they  would  be  willing  to  pay  for  them.  They  went  out  and 
gathered  all  the  bones  of  the  dead  Indians  and  came  back  to 
the  stockade  again.  When  they  all  got  inside,  the  gates  were 
closed,  as  the  interpreter  heard  them  say  they  would  kill  the 


GEORGE   HBRENDEEN. 
The   hist   of   the   Great    Scouts. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  105 

whole  bunch.  There  were  only  seven  or  eight  men.  The  closing 
of  the  gates  was  something  the  Indians  could  not  understand,  so 
they  asked  the  reason  for  such  an  act  and  were  told  that  as  they 
had  come  there  to  kill  the  whites,  they,  the  white  men,  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  they  could  all  die  at  the  same  time.  How 
is  that?  The  Indians  wanted  to  know.  The  interpreter  said: 
'You  saw  that  man  go  into  the  cellar — that  place  is  full  of  powder 
and  when  the  first  shot  is  fired  by  you  that  place  will  explode  and 
all  of  us  will  be  blown  into  eternity  at  the  same  time.  In  fact  it 
will  save  the  trouble  of  a  lingering  death  by  gunshot  wounds. 

'This  was  too  much  for  the  Red's  nature  to  stand  so  they 
begged  that  the  gates  be  thrown  open  so  they  could  go  on  their 
way  to  the  final  burial  of  the  remains  of  their  people  who  had 
fallen  by  the  same  band  of  white  hunters  the  spring  before." 

It  must  have  been  a  peculiar  class  of  men  who  were  around 
those  wood  camps  and  about  the  trading  posts  in  those  days. 
Some  of  them  were  mighty  good  citizens  but  many  were  only 
noted  for  their  bravery  but  not  for  honor. — A.  J.  Noyes  (Ajax). 

George  Herendeen — One  of  the  Last  of  the 

Great  Scouts. 

One  of  the  characters  of  Blaine  county  is  that  most  unassum- 
ing of  all  men,  George  Herendeen,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
He  was  born  in  the  fall  of  forty-six  on  the  Western  Reserve, 
twenty-eight  miles  east  of  Cleveland.  His  parents  died  when  he 
was  thirteen.  After  the  close  of  the  war  he  went  to  Indiana  and 
lived  with  an  uncle  for  some  time.  The  hum-drum  life  that  one  was 
to  live  in  the  Middle  West  did  not  appeal  to  George,  so  he  came 
to  the  conclusion  to  "Go  West"  and  try  to  grow  up  with  the 
country. 

Colorado,  especially  Denver,  was  a  section  that  was  heard 
of  as  a  mining  country  more  than  any  other,  except  California, 
in  the  sixties,  and  to  Denver,  George  went.  He  does  not  say  what 
he  did  while  in  Colorado.  From  there  he  went  to  New  Mexico 
and  while  he  does  not  say  what  he  did  while  there  we  infer  that 
he  was  cow  punching,  as  we  find  that  he  is  headed  for  Montana 
in  '69  helping  to  drive  a  herd  of  Texas  cattle.  He  came  through 
Wyoming  into  Idaho  via  Taylor's  Bridge,  on  the  Snake,  into 
Montana  via  Horse  Prairie.  These  cattle  belonged  to  Housen 
Cooper.  The  winter  of  '69  and  '70  George  stayed  at  Horse 
Shoe  Bend  near  Three  Forks,  and  held  the  cattle. 

From  that  time  on  he  was  engaged  in  various  things  until  '73, 
when  he  went  to  the  National  Park  with  Captain  Jackson  of 
Bozeman.     In  this  party  were  Taylor  Blivens  and  Sam  Shank- 


106  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

land,  clerk  of  the  Crow  agency,  and  several  more,  ten  in  all. 
Their  object  was  to  look  over  the  park  and  blaze  trails.  This 
experience  gave  our  subject  a  knowledge  of  that  most  interesting 
section  of  the  United  States  so  that  he  knew  it  so  well  that  he 
was  selected  by  one  of  the  noted  hunters,  later  as  guide. 

The  Seventy-Four  Expedition  to  the  Yellowstone. 

In  the  spring  of  1874,  February,  149  men  left  Bozeman  for 
the  Yellowstone  expedition.  This  was  one  of  the  dirtiest  and 
most  disagreeable  springs  to  the  pioneers  of  Montana. 

There  were  twenty-two  teams,  of  all  sizes,  from  a  two-horse 
to  an  eight-yoke  of  cattle.  Nels  Story  furnished  the  big  Prairie 
Schooners  for  the  big  teams  and  probably  most  of  the  cattle.  The 
object  of  this  trip  was  not  given  out  at  the  time  the  boys  started, 
as  they  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  continue  their  journey 
had  the  object  been  known  to  the  authorities.  Their  object  was 
to  prospect  for  gold,  but  they  said  they  were  going  to  look  out  a 
route  for  travel. 

Even  their  organization  was  left  till  they  got  over  to  the  Yel- 
lowstone. They  followed  down  that  stream  and  prospected  on 
the  Porcupine,  where  they  had  been  led  to  believe  gold  could  be 
found  in  paying  quantities  by  a  man  who  had  deserted  from  the 
army.  They  crossed  the  Yellowstone  with  the  intention  of  going 
south  to  the  Powder  river  and  prospect  that  stream  also.  They 
had  no  sooner  crossed  that  river  than  trouble  commenced  for 
them.  It  came  in  great  big  gobs  and  was  flung  at  them  by  almost 
the  whole  Sioux  nation  under  Sitting  Bull.  Trouble  of  that  kind 
did  not  disturb  these  fellows  in  the  least  as  they  were  there  looking 
for  it.  Seldom  has  there  been  gathered  together  such  a  band  of 
men.  Each  one  of  them  was  a  captain  in  himself  and  needed  no 
guiding  hand,  but  they  had  selected  one  who  was  "Johnnie  on  the 
Spot,"  Frank  Grounds. 

From  the  moment  they  got  across  the  river  they  had  to  fight, 
and  while  they  were  in  several  battles  only  one  man  was  killed. 

The  Indians  thought  it  an  easy  matter  to  wipe  them  out,  but 
they  soon  found  that  it  was  not  possible  Even  Sitting  Bull  told 
his  young  men  that  they  were  wasting  their  time  and  too  many 
lives  on  such  a  bunch  of  foolhardy  fellows.  The  story  of  that 
expedition  is  a  book  in  itself  and  much  of  it  has  been  written  and 
is  in  the  Historical  Society  at  Helena. 

The  boys  came  through  in  safety,  though  they  did  it  under 
difficulties  that  would  have  been  too  serious  for  any  men  not 
toughened  to  the  life  of  mountain  and  plains. 

In  1875  we  find  that  Herendeen  is  ready  once  more  to  try 
the  Yellowstone  country.     He  has  not  been  deterred  by  the  trials 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  107 

and  troubles  of  the  year  before  as  they  are  the  things  of  yester- 
day, forgotten,  in  a  way. 

Nelson  Story  had  some  mackinaws  built  on  the  Yellowstone 
for  the  establishment  of  trading  posts  on  the  lower  river,  as  George 
said:  "We  made  two  boats  thirty-six  feet  long,  at  Pease's  ranch 
above  where  Livingston  was  afterward  laid  out.  There  were 
twenty-eight  of  us.  We  were  to  meet  the  Coulson  line  of  steam- 
boats that  were  to  come  up  the  river.  The  steamer  got  up  the 
river  near  where  Billings  is  now  on  the  tenth  day  of  June.  They 
blazed  a  cottonwood  tree  and  went  back.  We  continued  on 
down  the  river  and  camped  on  an  island  to  be  free  from  the 
Indians.  From  there  we  went  to  Pease's  bottom  and  built  a  stock- 
ade.    We  were  only  four  or  five  days  putting  the  logs  up. 

"Major  Pease,  John  Peck  and  I  took  a  boat  to  go  on  down 
the  river  and  see  where  the  steamer  was.  We  were  five  days  and 
nights  going  to  Fort  Buford,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  found 
that  the  matter  was  off  so  far  as  the  steamer  was  concerned.  We 
arrived  at  Buford  the  morning  of  the  Fourth  of  July. 

"We  had  to  be  mighty  careful  going  to  Buford  as  there  were 
quite  a  number  of  Indians  in  that  section  that  were  not  at  all  in 
love  with  any  one  who  was  entering  the  Yellowstone  country  with 
an  object  of  settling  it. 

"Pease  went  east,  I  waited  and  caught  a  steamer  up  the 
Missouri  and  was  all  the  fall  getting  to  Helena.  Got  their  fair 
week,  the  first  day.  I  remained  around  Helena  till  after  the  fair 
and  then  took  the  stage  for  Bozeman.  The  next  day  after  arriv- 
ing in  Bozeman  I  went  over  to  the  Yellowstone,  just  below  Liv- 
ingston, took  a  boat  and  went  to  Baker's  battlefield  and  built  me 
a  'dugout'  and  stayed  there  all  winter  and  wolved. 

'The  next  spring,  in  March,  the  Government  sent  four  troops 
of  the  Second  Cavalry  and  others  to  take  all  the  people  out  of 
the  Yellowstone.  I  was  the  only  one  at  my  place  (See  the  rest  of 
his  story) .  I  was  loaded  up  and  taken  to  Fort  Pease.  Major 
Brisban  had  sent  Paul  McCormick  to  tell  me  that  he  was  to 
take  me  out.  I  objected  to  being  moved  as  I  was  not  doing  any 
harm.  Brisban  persuaded  me  to  go  and  taking  my  pelts  in  the 
wagons  we  went  to  Pease  and  back  to  Bozeman. 

"Of  the  twenty-eight  men  at  Pease  eighteen  of  them  had  been 
killed  and  wounded,  four  killed  and  fourteen  wounded. 

'That  spring  Gibbon  had  come  from  Fort  Shaw  and  had 
organized  at  Fort  Ellis.  He  had  four  troops  of  Seventh  Infantry. 
He  wanted  me  to  go  with  him  as  scout,  but  as  the  Government 
had  not  made  arrangements  for  pay,  other  than  a  teamster  at 
$16  per  month,  I  would  not  go.  Paul  McCormick  and  I  built 
a  boat  and  went  down  the  river  and  found  Gibbon  at  Fort  Pease. 


108  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

"Paul  got  a  chance  to  take  a  message  back  to  Bozeman  and 
then  he  brought  back  some  goods  and  started  a  canteen.  There 
were  several  boats  at  Pease  that  Gibbon  was  going  to  take,  but 
I  told  him  that  I  was  one  of  the  men  to  help  build  the  fort  and 
as  I  was  the  only  one  there  the  boats  belonged  to  me  and  he 
could  not  have  them.  I  told  him  I  would  take  Captain  Clifford 
and  the  boys  down,  as  we  could  scout  and  cover  more  ground 
that  way  than  on  the  land.  (I  did  not  work  for  Gibbon.)  We 
traveled  down  the  Yellowstone  pretty  near  the  mouth  of  Powder 
river.  One  morning  we  took  a  boat  to  go  down  the  river,  Major 
Brisban,  a  soldier  or  two  and  a  couple  of  Indians,  were  in  the 
boat.  He  did  not  say  what  his  object  was  but  we  soon  found 
out  that  it  was  to  see  if  there  was  a  steamboat  down  the  river, 
as  it  was  about  time  that  the  forces  were  getting  together.  We 
run  through  the  Wolf  rapids  and  found  a  steamboat  just  landing. 
We  went  on  the  boat  and  found  General  Terry  and  staff.  We 
learned  that  Custer  was  coming  across  from  Fort  Lincoln  and 
was  expected  any  day.  Terry,  the  day  before,  had  sent  scouts 
out  but  they  had  been  driven  back  and  he  was  worried  as  to 
how  he  could  get  word  to  Gibbon. 

"He  told  me  he  would  give  me  $300  if  I  would  take  a  dis- 
patch to  Gibbon  that  night.  I  started  out  and  got  to  the  camp 
about  three  in  the  morning.  Gibbon  did  not  move.  Terry 
steamed  up  to  where  Gibbon  was,  the  next  day.  We  then  went 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Rose  Bud.  Custer's  command  came  up  on 
the  opposite  side  and  camped.  That  afternoon  they  had  a  council 
of  war  on  the  steamer  (Far  West)  about  the  campaign.  Custer, 
Gibbon,  Brisban  and  Terry  were  there.  Custer  sent  for  me  to 
come  across  the  river  and  see  him.  When  I  reached  them  they 
had  a  map  lying  on  the  table  and  as  I  stepped  up  Custer  put  his 
finger  on  the  map  and  said:  'Do  you  know  that  place?'  I 
told  him  I  did  and  he  replied:     'You  are  the  man  I  want.' 

'That  evening  we  started  for  what  was  to  be  Custer's  Battle 
Field.  I  knew  all  that  section  of  the  country  like  a  book  and 
was  not  long  in  leading  him  to  the  place  concerning  which  he 
had  asked  me. 

"When  we  arrived  at  the  point  where  the  battle  took  place 
Custer  turned  to  Reno  and  said :  'Lead  out  and  take  the  scouts.* 
Those  were  the  last  words  we  ever  heard  him  say.  Reno  went 
to  the  stream  and  retreated  to  the  bluffs  to  a  place  of  safety.  In 
doing  this  there  were  thirteen  soldiers  and  Herendeen  who  had 
not  heard  the  command  and  they  were  left  in  some  brush.  It 
is  said  that  it  was  the  knowledge  of  Herendeen's  plainsmanship 
that  rescued  the  men  and  took  them  to  a  place  where  Reno  was. 

"Afterwards  when  the  Government  was  investigating  the 
failure  of  Reno  to  do  his  full  duty  that  day,  Herendeen  was 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  109 

called  as  a  witness  to  Chicago  and  was  complimented  by  the  offi- 
cer in  charge  by  saying,  after  the  trial  was  over:  'Mr.  Heren- 
deen, I  believe  you  are  the  only  man  who  has  told  the  truth.' 

"Such  a  remark  from  such  a  source  and  at  such  a  time  was 
certainly  a  compliment.  Herendeen  could  only  see  that  the  truth 
was  what  was  wanted  at  that  time.  He  is  not  one  who  talks 
much  and  has  no  wish  to  pose  as  anything  but  just  an  ordinary 
frontiersman  who  was  doing  his  duty.  He  could  not  have  had 
the  fear  of  Indians  very  strongly  in  him  as  you  find  him  all  the 
winter,  before,  in  his  lonely  'Dugout'  on  the  banks  of  the  Yellow- 
stone, where  he  was  not  safe  for  weeks  on  account  of  the  Red 
men.  For  days  he  did  not  feel  safe  in  going  over  five  hundred 
yards  from  his  camp  as  the  signs  were  too  numerous  of  the 
enemy.  He  never  speaks  of  any  of  his  experiences  as  out  of  the 
ordinary,  just  natural  occurrences. 

"When  the  last  battle  had  been  fought  he  became  a  guide  in 
the  National  park  to  Colonel  Picket  and  was  there  with  him  in 
1 880  killing  bear  and  showing  the  Colonel  how  to  get  bruin. 

"He  was  elected  a  complimentary  member  of  the  Society  of 
Montana  Pioneers  at  Bozeman  in  1914.  He  attended  the  anni- 
versary of  the  Custer  Battle  in  June,  1916,  and  expects  to  help 
mark  the  trail  that  Custer  followed  from  the  Powder  river  to  his 
death,  in  1917. 

'Truly  a  frontiersman  of  whom  it  may  be  said  when  he  goes 
on  his  last  hunt,  'He  played  the  game  like  a  man'." 

The  following  little  incident  was  told  the  writer  by  the  old 
scout,  George  Herendeen.  It  is  one  of  those  things  that  happen 
to  the  old  plainsmen  in  their  lives  on  the  frontier  and  which  they 
consider  as  of  no  particular  moment,  that  is,  of  not  enough  inter- 
est to  the  general  public  to  bear  repeating:  'The  expedition  of 
seventy-four  to  the  Yellowstone  county  was  one  full  of  quite 
interesting  things.  We  always  took  them  as  ordinary  occurrences, 
so  thought  little  of  them.  In  fact  we  thought  no  more  of  them 
than  would  the  people  who  live  the  hum-drum  of  every  day  exist- 
ence in  any  walk  of  life. 

"We  had  gone  down  the  north  side  of  the  Yellowstone  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Porcupine,  which  we  had  prospected,  and  made 
up  our  minds  to  cross  the  larger  stream  and  go  to  the  south,  just 
where  we  did  not  care,  as  we  had  plenty  of  provisions  and  good 
transportation.  On  March  25th  we  made  the  crossing  and  were 
compelled  to  camp  for  five  days  on  account  of  a  big  storm  of 
snow  which  started  soon  after  we  were  over. 

'The  country  to  the  south  was  rough,  coulees,  rolling  hills  and 
ridges,  on  which  there  were  some  scrubby  pines. 


110  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

"On  April  1st  we  had  resumed  our  march  and  had  chosen 
a  coulee  as  it  was  the  only  means  of  approach  to  the  hills  and 
benchlands  that  overlook  the  Yellowstone  on  the  south. 

"We  had  about  twenty  wagons,  well  guarded,  as  we  had 
plenty  of  men.  In  all  commands  you  will  find  some  fellow  who 
was  more  or  less  foolhardy — willing  to  try  any  experience  once — 
and  this  particular  day  the  hero  (?)  must  be  Charlie  Dryden, 
a  long-legged  youth  who  carelessly  rode  on  in  advance  of  the 
party  up  the  coulee  and  on  to  the  divide.  On  that  divide  there 
was  a  great  big  surprise  awaiting  him.  If  he  is  alive  today  he 
will,  no  doubt,  recall  vividly  the  occurrence  and  while  he  may 
have  no  picture  of  himself  as  we  saw  him,  he  would  not  care 
to  dispute  our  version  of  the  affair  as  we  were  looking  at  it  from 
another  angle. 

"It  must  not  be  considered  a  digression  at  this  time  to  prepare 
the  reader's  mind  for  the  cause  of  Charlie's  excitement. 

"While  we  were  camped  on  the  Yellowstone  in  the  storm  we 
had  made  big  fires  that  caused  great  volumes  of  smoke  to  arise 
to  such  a  height  that  any  roving  bands  of  Indians,  though  miles 
away,  might  see. 

"Now  that  was  just  what  happened.  When  Dryden  passed 
over  the  divide  he  was  discovered  by  a  band  of  thirteen  young 
Indians  who,  no  doubt,  were  out  to  see  what  the  smoke  had  meant. 
They  were  riding  toward  him  when  he  was  seen  but  they  had 
time  to  disrobe  and  with  nothing  but  their  breech  clouts  as  cover- 
ing made  for  him  with  the  expectation  of  soon  affecting  his  cap- 
ture alive.  There  was  one  thing  that  they  had  not  taken  into 
consideration  and  that  was  that  that  particular  pony  which  Dryden 
had  under  him  was  a  race  horse  with  the  speed  of  light  and 
which  no  Indian  pony  could  approach  and  particularly  so  with 
the  fear  they  had  put  into  the  heart  of  her  rider  at  that  time. 

"On  hell-bent  came  the  pony  and  not  far  behind  the  Red 
boys  in  full  pursuit,  expecting  that  they  would  be  successful. 
They  did  not  know  that  the  advance  guard  was  coming  and  that 
they  would  soon  run  into  a  trap,  as  they  only  knew  that  there 
was  a  lone  white  man  who  had  strayed  and  who  looked  good 
to  them.  On  Charlie  came  with  his  long  legs  fanning  the  side 
of  the  pony  like  the  wings  of  an  old-fashioned  windmill.  The 
advance  guard  opened  up  and  he  was  safe.  The  Reds  then 
turned  and  rode  back  but  the  whites  gave  them  no  time  to  pick  up 
iheir  saddles  and  clothing  which  were  soon  discovered  and  ap- 
propriated. This  little  thing  did  in  no  way  disconcert  the  main 
body  and  we  continued  with  our  journey  until  time  to  camp. 

'There  may  be  some  guiding  hand  to  lead  us  so  that  we,  for 
a  time,  escape,  what  appears,  by  the  breadth  of  a  hair,  from 
places  of  danger.     After  we  had  gone  into  camp  and  had  some- 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  111 

thing  to  eat  five  of  us  started  out  to  look  over  the  country  in 
order  to  pick  out  the  most  desirable  road  or  to  find  if  it  would 
be  possible  to  proceed  at  all  over  a  section  of  country  where  no 
wagon  had  ever  been  before.  The  party  consisted  of  Frank 
Grounds,  the  captain  of  the  expedition,  Buck  Buchanan,  'Wild 
Cat'  Bill  Hamilton,  the  noted  plainsman  and  author,  'Yank' 
Everetts  and  myself.  We  had  proceeded  but  a  short  distance 
when  I  saw  a  deer  track  which  led  me  to  suspect  that  it  could 
be  followed  and  its  maker  killed.  The  other  boys  continued  on 
while  I  struck  out  for  the  deer.  Only  a  short  distance  away  was 
a  small  grove  of  pines  to  which  the  track  lead.  When  I  had 
arrived  at  this  place  the  desire  for  deer  was  soon  dispelled  as  there 
were  plenty  of  fresh  pony  tracks  which  I  knew  to  be  the  marks 
of  the  Indians,  so  I  started  to  overtake  the  four  men  who  were 
ahead.  The  point  to  which  they  were  making  was  a  wooded 
hill.  They  were  at  the  bottom  of  this  rise  and  could  not  see  the 
summit.  What  caused  me  to  look  up  I  do  not  know,  but  I  did, 
and  on  the  hill  I  could  see  an  Indian  on  horseback  waiting  for  our 
approach.  I  was  probably  five  hundred  yards  away  but  I  pulled 
up  my  rifle  and  blazed  away,  at  the  same  time  shouting  to  the  boys 
to  look  out  for  the  Indians. 

"As  soon  as  I  shot  I  ran  towards  the  boys  and  they  began  to 
fall  back  toward  me — shooting  at  the  top  of  the  hill  as  they 
retreated.  Bill  Hamilton  was  deaf  as  a  post  and  was  much  in 
the  way  as  he  could  see  nothing  to  shoot  at  and  the  others  had  no 
time,  under  the  circumstances,  to  explain  anything  to  him  and 
tell  the  trouble.  The  boys  began  to  spread  out.  Buck  and  myself 
to  the  left  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  other 
three.  We  would  retreat  and  stop  and  hold  the  Indians  while 
the  others  fell  back.  This  continued  until  we  could  retire  to  a 
place  of  safety  or  until  the  boys  in  camp  came  to  our  aid.  As  I 
have  said  Bill  could  see  nothing  to  shoot  at  but  knew  something 
was  wrong  some  place  as  Frank  had  hold  of  him  trying  to  pull 
him  back.  At  this  time  Buck  and  myself  were  some  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  back  and  Bill,  seeing  us,  pulled  his  gun  and  was 
going  to  use  it  as  he  had  an  idea  we  were  showing  the  white 
feather  and  leaving  the  others  to  do  all  the  fighting.     Buck  saw 

Bill  and  said:     'See  that  old  ,  he  is  pulling  his  gun  on 

me.'  With  that  remark  he  leveled  his  gun  on  Bill  and  that  changed 
the  old  fellow's  mind  to  such  an  extent  that  we  had  no  more  real 
trouble  from  him.  In  the  meantime  the  Indians  kept  firing  at  us 
but  we  were  too  far  away  for  the  old  guns  they  had  to  do  us 
any  harm.  It  only  took  a  few  minutes  till  the  boys  came  and  we 
got  back  to  camp. 

"Jack  Bean  and  Bostwick  were  standing  picket  duty 

some  two  hours  later  when  Bostwick,  who  was  a  harum-scarum 


112  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

fellow,  wild  as  he  could  be,  came  to  the  conclusion  he  would  go 
and  have  a  talk  with  the  Indians.  He  had  not  taken  into  consider- 
ation that  these  fellows  were  not  dressed  for  company  and  for 
that  very  reason  were  in  no  good  humor  for  a  visit  from  a  white 
man  who  was  one  of  the  party  who  held  all  their  clothing,  except 
their  breech  clouts  and  a  little  war  paint  which  adorned  their 
bodies  and  that  April  1  st  is  not  warm  enough  to  allow  one  to  be 
in  a  pleasant  frame  of  mind  when  so  dressed.  They  allowed  him 
to  come  pretty  near  to  them,  but  when  he  came  close  enough  to 
carry  on  a  conversation  he  had  changed  his  mind  and  made  for 
the  camp  with  the  band  after  him,  with  the  result  that  he  got 
four  flesh  wounds  from  some  old  cap  and  ball  pistol  that  did 
not  lay  him  up,  for  he  was  ready  for  the  fray  only  four  days  after 
on  the  Rosebud,  when  the  whole  bunch  attacked  us. 

"He  would,  though,  have  been  killed  had  it  not  been  for 
Jack  Bean,  as  an  Indian  was  so  close  to  him  that  he  was  trying 
to  knock  him  off  his  horse  with  a  quirt. 

'That  night  we  fortified  a  little  by  digging  rifle  pits.  We  had 
fifty-six  head  of  oxen  in  the  gulch  below  our  camp  where  they 
were  left  to  graze.  Richardson,  a  butcher  of  Bozeman,  was 
watching  them.  Some  time  during  the  night  an  Indian  was  trying 
to  crawl  up  and  drive  them  off  when  he  was  seen  by  Richardson 
and  shot.  This  alarmed  the  camp  and  when  asked  why  he  shot 
he  explained  what  he  saw  and  that  he  thought  he  had  hit  his 
man.  This  proved  a  fact,  as  soon  after  this  we  could  hear  the 
wounded  fellow  calling  for  help  which  must  have  been  rendered 
him  as  we  did  not  find  him  the  next  day. 

"In  the  light  of  today  one  may  say  that  the  escape  we  made 
that  day  was  more  or  less  miraculous.  If  I  had  not  seen  the  deer 
track  and  followed  it  to  the  bunch  of  timber  where  I  found  the 
pony  tracks  we  would  no  doubt  have  all  been  killed,  as  the 
Indians  were  waiting  for  us  and  could  have  held  us  at  their  mercy, 
as  it  would  have  been  a  complete  surprise." 

James  H.  Snell. 

I  was  born  August  4,  1854,  West  Moreland,  Pa.  We 
moved  from  there  to  Rock  Island,  111..  I  was  then  a  year  old. 
My  father  was  a  contractor  on  the  Rock  Island  railroad  during 
that  year.  We  then  moved  from  there  to  Nebraska  City  which 
then  comprised  two  stores,  the  names  of  which  were  Philadelphia 
No.  1  and  Philadelphia  No.  2.  I  was  about  two  years  old 
at  that  time.  We  then  crossed  the  Missouri  river,  which  was 
called  the  boundary  at  that  time,  and  my  father  took  a  farm  or 
homestead  nine  miles  west  of  Nebraska  City  and  I  remained  there 
until  I  was  ten,  about   1864.     We  then  moved  west  upon  the 


JAMES    SNELL. 
Seoul  and  Plainsmen  with  Miles  al   Battle  of  the  Bear's  Paw, 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  113 

Platte  river  to  Fort  McPherson,  Nebraska.  We  remained  there 
until  1866,  then  I  went  east  to  school  in  Missouri,  a  little  place 
called  Phimore.  I  went  from  there  to  Pennsylvania  to  school. 
In  1868  I  came  back  to  Nebraska  college,  three  miles  southwest 
of  Nebraska  City.  In  1871  I  moved  back  to  Cheyenne, 
Wyoming,  and  in  1 874  I  was  with  the  expedition  that  went  into 
the  Black  Hills  to  take  out  the  first  white  men  that  were  digging 
gold  there.  I  then  went  from  there  to  Fort  McPherson  and  then 
back  to  Cheyenne.  In  1 876  I  was  with  Crook's  expedition  after 
the  Sioux  in  Montana.  I  was  with  General  Crook's  command  at 
the  time  of  the  Custer  massacre.  I  was  probably  about  70  miles 
from  the  battle,  but  we  never  went  to  the  battle.  In  1877  we 
went  back  that  winter  and  wintered  at  Camp  Carland,  Wyoming. 
In  the  spring  of  1877  we  started  out  under  the  command  of 
General  Hart  and  we  were  held  at  Fort  McKinney,  near  old 
Fort  Reno;  then  we  came  on  down  to  the  Yellowstone  to  the 
mouth  of  Tongue  river,  what  is  known  as  Fort  Keogh.  During 
the  early  part  of  the  spring  and  summer  we  went  on  another 
expedition  to  South  Dakota  to  Hart  River  and  Cannon  Ball  after 
Indians  and  over  to  Old  Man's  Butte,  then  returned  to  Fort 
Keogh  about  the  first  of  September,  where  we  were  ordered  to 
Fort  Custer  to  join  General  Buwell's  command  to  get  after  Sitting 
Bull.  The  expedition  broke  up,  then  we  returned  to  Fort  Keogh 
and  General  Miles  was  ordered  out  to  see  if  he  could  not  inter- 
cept the  Nez  Perces.  He  had  a  dispatch  that  they  had  crossed 
the  Missouri  river  at  Cow  Island,  between  the  Bear  Paws  and 
the  Little  Rockies.  The  dispatch  was  brought  down  by  Johnnie 
Buckman  (Father)  by  skiff  on  the  Missouri  river.  We  then 
made  forced  marches  day  and  night  after  that  and  we  had  to 
abandon  the  wagon  train  at  Pochette  with  100  soldiers  and 
cannon  to  guard  same.  We  then  traveled  day  and  night  after 
we  got  the  dispatch.  The  scouts  discovered  what  was  supposed 
to  be  the  whole  camp  on  Big  Beaver  creek  at  the  foot  of  the 
Bear  Paws.  We  charged  in  on  them,  supposing  them  to  be  the 
whole  camp,  which  proved  to  be  only  the  rear  guard.  Then  we 
formed  a  line  of  battle  and  followed  them  up.  The  infantry  was 
mounted  on  Indian  ponies  which  we  had  taken  from  the  Indians 
up  on  Mud  creek  and  they  being  poor  riders  formed  a  poor  line 
of  battle  and  we  had  to  stop  and  form  over  again.  This  was  on 
Sunday  morning,  October  1,  1877.  There  was  about  four 
inches  of  snow  on  the  ground.  It  was  about  nine  or  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  We  followed  them  over  to  Snake  creek  from 
Peoples  creek  and  when  we  got  up  on  the  ridge  on  this  side  we 
formed  a  line  of  battle  and  again  we  charged  the  camp  as  soon 
as  we  saw  that  it  was  down  in  the  bottom.  The  Seventh  Cavalry 
was  the  right  battalion  and  the  Second  Cavalry  was  the  left  bat- 


114  IX   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

talion  and  the  Fifth  Infantry  was  the  center  battalion  in  reserve, 
and  the  horses  of  the  Indians  were  on  the  left  side  under  the 
care  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry.  Sergeant  McEwen  had  placed  his 
little  Rodman  gun  in  the  center  of  the  battalion.  The  Indians 
had  raided  a  store  up  at  Highland  and  also  a  wagon  train  loaded 
with  supplies  for  western  points.  These  goods  were  piled  up  in 
the  camp  and  back  of  them ;  it  formed  a  kind  of  breastwork.  We 
fought  the  Indians  from  then  until  the  third  day  and  then  we  had 
a  peace  talk  and  we  had  a  good  interpreter  who  could  talk  good 
Nez  Perce  and  Miles  offered  him  or  anybody  $300  if  he  could 
get  them  to  surrender.  Up  to  this  time  the  Indians  supposed  that 
this  was  Howard  or  Gibbons  or  some  other  command  which  they 
had  defeated.  We  talked  a  while  on  the  third  to  get  them  to 
surrender.  In  the  meantime  we  had  sent  back  for  the  wagon 
train  that  had  the  munition  and  soldiers.  We  were  talking  with 
Chief  Joseph  and  another  Indian  called  Mox  Mox  and  at 
the  time  we  were  talking  to  them  Lieutenant  Jerome  and  Cayuse 
George,  the  interpreter,  were  down  in  the  Nez  Perce  camp  and 
when  the  train  came  in  sight  on  the  hill  some  one  in  the  right 
battalion,  the  Seventh  Cavalry,  fired  his  gun  off  accidentally  or 
intentionally,  and  then  the  peace  talk  was  all  off.  This  was 
along  in  the  evening  and  they  kept  Lieutenant  Jerome  and  Cayuse 
George  and  we  kept  Joseph  and  Mox  Mox  in  our  camp  all 
night  and  shooting  was  going  on  every  now  and  then  all  night. 
They  told  Lieutenant  Jerome  and  Cayuse  George  to  keep  down 
as  they  did  not  want  them  to  get  killed.  Snell  said:  "If  I  had 
owned  the  whole  world  I  would  have  given  it  to  have  been  out 
of  that  fight — at  one  time — as  I  never  saw  such  shots  in  my  life." 
The  clothes  I  wore  were  all  riddled  with  bullets.  The  next  morn- 
ing they  stopped  firing  long  enough  to  trade  back.  We  gave 
them  Joseph  and  Mox  Mox  and  got  Jerome  and  George.  Gen- 
eral Miles  made  a  present  of  a  pair  of  shoes  to  Joseph.  Joseph 
said  he  did  not  want  to  fight  the  whites  but  was  compelled  by 
the  other  chieftains.  After  we  swapped  back  war  was  resumed 
and  continued  until  the  coming  Saturday  evening.  They  came  up 
and  surrendered  their  arms.  They  thought  Miles  was  going  to 
send  them  back  home  if  they  surrendered.  The  next  morning 
we  started  back  for  Fort  Keogh.  We  camped  the  first  night 
just  below  my  present  residence,  at  the  east  end  of  the  Little 
Rockies,  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  of  where  I  am  now  located. 
Little  did  I  think  then  that  I  would  be  located  here.  In  all  my 
Indian  career  I  never  was  in  a  standing  fight  until  I  struck  the 
Nez  Perce  tribe.  General  Miles  gave  me  eight  head  of  ponies 
and  a  span  of  mules  for  carrying  water  for  the  wounded  soldiers 
when  nobody  else  would  go.  Captain  Snyder  was  ordered  by 
Miles  to  take  a  certain  position  and  about  thirty  of  the  Nez 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  115 

Perces  held  this  position  and  fought  this  company  of  soldiers 
from  a  little  ridge,  they  being  about  seventy-five  yards  apart  and 
forcing  the  soldiers  back.  If  the  Indians  only  knew,  they  had 
Miles  defeated.  Some  of  these  holes  were  joined  by  tunnels.  I 
never  went  up  against  anything  like  the  Nez  Perces  in  all  my 
life  and  I  have  been  in  lots  of  scraps. 

I  was  the  first  United  States  marshal  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  mountains  of  Montana. 

"Daddy"  F.  M.  Marsh's  Story  of  Kid  Curry. 

In  the  early  story  of  old  Chouteau  county  and  in  that  part 
that  afterward  became  Blaine  county,  Kid  Curry,  the  outlaw, 
was  very  prominent. 

I  have  no  wish  to  say  anything  wrong  of  this  man,  but  to  try 
and  tell  a  little  concerning  him  and  some  of  the  reasons  or  causes 
which  made  him  a  hunted  man. 

"Daddy"  Marsh,  the  man  who  must  be  considered  one  of 
the  characters  of  Chinook,  was  for  years  a  trader  on  the  Missouri 
at  Rocky  Point.  From  him  much  of  the  following  was  learned: 
"It  must  have  been  in  the  summer  of  1884  that  Hank  and  Kid 
Curry  came  to  our  place  looking  for  work.  They  soon  got  a  job 
riding  for  the  Circle  Bar.  As  they  were  among  the  last  to  begin 
work  for  that  outfit  for  the  season  they  were  compelled  to  quit 
as  soon  as  the  busy  season  was  over.  They  were  industrious  and 
needed  something  to  do.  They  had  a  pony  and  with  a  half- 
breed  sled,  as  a  means  of  conveyance,  cut  and  hauled,  from  the 
breaks  of  the  Missouri,  something  like  forty  cords  of  pitch  pine 
knots,  for  which  they  received  about  eight  dollars  per  cord  the 
next  spring  when  the  steamboats  began  to  run.  They  began 
once  more,  when  spring  opened,  to  ride  for  the  Circle  Bar. 

"As  they  were  very  saving  they  thought  it  a  good  plan  to 
take  up  a  ranch  near  one  which  was  owned  by  Pike  Landusky. 
The  boys  were  illiterate — never  having  had  a  chance  to  go  to 
school  so  could  not  write  their  names.  Hank  said  to  me  one  day: 
'Daddy,  I  would  give  all  I  have  if  I  could  write  as  well  as  you 
can.'  I  explained  that  that  was  surely  a  probable  matter,  if  he 
would  try.  'What!  Do  you  think  I  can  learn  to  write?'  he 
asked.  I  told  him  yes  and  sent  and  got  a  Spencerian  copy  book 
and  told  him  to  practice.  Every  moment  he  could  spare  he  would 
work  along  that  line.  Soon  after  this  he  told  me  the  happiest 
day  of  his  life  was  when  he  was  able  and  did  write  out  an  order 
for  some  goods  at  my  store.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  could  not 
believe  my  eyes  when  I  saw  that  order  with  his  name  signed  to  it. 

"I  said  that  he  went  to  live  near  Landusky — Landusky  had 
been  a  plainsman  for  years  and  had  in  some  way  gotten  into  a 
fight  with  the  result  that  his  under  jaw  had  been  shot.     Pike  was 


116  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

as  kind-hearted  a  man  as  could  be  and  would  give  the  shirt  off 
his  back  to  one  whom  he  liked.  When  he  was  loaded  with  'rot- 
gut'  he  was  as  senseless  as  any  fool.  At  such  times  he  forgot 
everything  manly.  Hank  Curry,  for  some  reason,  thought  the 
less  one  had  to  do  with  Pike  the  better  off  he  would  be,  so  told 
the  Kid  to  use  him  right  but  never  have  any  business  relations 
with  him.  It  seems  that  Pike  borrowed  a  plow  of  the  boys  and 
did  not  return  it,  but  when  they  got  it  back  it  was  very  much 
worse  for  wear. 

"I  might  say  that  by  this  time  two  more  of  the  boys  had  come 
to  this  section — Johnnie  and  Lonnie.  John  was  a  little  fellow 
who  soon  learned  to  pack  a  gun  and  wanted  to  be  bad. 

"In  this  same  section  of  the  country  lived  Winters  and  Gill. 
There  was  also,  another  man  living  there  who  had  some  trouble 
with  his  wife  and  she  became  the  common  property  of  several 
others,  to  become  intimate  with  Johnnie  Curry  later.  Her  hus- 
band sold  their  ranch  to  Winters,  who  took  possession.  After 
the  woman  became  the  property  (?)  of  John  Curry  he  came 
to  the  conclusion  to  drive  Winters  off  the  land  as  he  claimed 
the  woman  had  as  much  right  to  it  as  her  husband,  but  that  she 
had  not  received  anything  for  her  portion.  One  day  he  rode  up 
and  told  Winters  that  he  would  give  him  just  so  long  to  vacate 
the  place.  Winters  was  not  by  any  means  a  man  who  would 
easily  surrender  his  rights  and  so  explained  himself. 

"Not  long  after  this  he  looked  out  and  saw  Johnnie  coming 
riding  one  horse  and  leading  another.  He  placed  his  double- 
barreled  shotgun  near  the  door  so  it  would  be  handy.  Johnnie 
called  to  him  and  when  he  opened  the  door  Johnnie  shot  but 
the  bullet  went  wild  and  hit  in  the  jamb  just  over  Winters'  head 
and  before  he  could  shoot  again  the  shotgun  had  done  its  work 
and  Johnnie  Curry  would  no  longer  ride  the  range. 

"Prior  to  this,  though,  Hank  had  taken  sick  and  died  with 
consumption,  so  the  balance  wheel  in  the  whole  Curry  machine 
had  been  destroyed. 

"Kid  Curry  had  gotten  into  trouble  that  had  caused  his 
arrest  by  Sheriff  Buckley.  For  some  reason,  Buckley  placed 
the  Kid  in  the  custody  of  Landusky.  Landusky  remarked  he  now 
had  the  Kid  where  he  had  long  wanted  him  and  was  not  at  all 
particular  in  the  choice  of  language  used  in  addressing  him.  He 
had  also  chained  the  Kid  with  a  log  chain  for  safe  keeping, 
though  there  could  have  been  no  particular  reason  for  doing  so. 

"After  the  Kid  had  come  back  from  Benton  he  told  several 
that  he  intended  to  whip  Landusky  for  the  insulting  remarks — 
remarks  that  took  into  consideration  the  chastity  of  his  mother — 
and  which  no  self-respecting  man  could  possibly  allow  to  be  ad- 
dressed to  him  without  trying  to  punish  the  person  who  made  them. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  117 

"In  fact  he  had  told  Pike  that  when  he  returned  he  would 
surely  take  revenge.  Pike,  after  his  return,  tried  to  make  friends 
but  the  wound  was  so  deep  that  nothing  he  could  say  could 
possibly  pacify  his  enemy.  Jim  Thornhill  tried  to  keep  the  Kid 
away  as  he  was  sure  of  the  final  results,  that  is,  that  one  or  the 
other  would  be  killed.  The  day  of  the  tragedy  came  and  the 
Kid  walked  into  Jew  Jake's  saloon,  where  Pike  was  drinking  with 
his  friends.  Kid  explained  what  he  was  there  for  and  handing 
his  gun  to  Thornhill  started  in  and  punished  Landusky  till  he 
cried  enough.  Taking  a  handkerchief  from  his  pocket  to  wipe 
the  blood  from  his  face  he  pulled,  as  he  returned  it  to  his  pocket, 
a  revolver  which,  in  some  way,  failed  him  or  the  Kid  would  have 
lead  the  procession  to  the  lonely  grave  yard  on  the  south  slope  of 
the  Little  Rockies  instead  of  Pike. 

'Thornhill  saw  the  movement  and  shouted:  'Look  out,  Kid, 
he's  going  to  shoot!'  At  this  Curry  jumped  and  grabbed  his  gun 
which  was  held  out  to  him  by  Thornhill  and  Pike  fell  shot  to 
death. 

"If  Curry  had  given  himself  up  he  would — so  most  think — 
have  been  discharged — as  Thornhill,  who  was  arrested  and  tried 
for  complicity,  or  as  an  accessory,  received  no  sentence.  Curry, 
however,  seemed  to  fear  jail  and  imprisonment;  he  was  not  cap- 
tured and  became  an  outlaw." 

(Billy  Skillen  has  this  to  say:  'The  leading  up  to  the  killing 
of  Landusky  was  over  the  dispute  about  a  plow  between  the 
Curry  brothers  and  Landusky.  At  the  time  the  trouble  started 
Pike  Landusky  was  acting  as  deputy  sheriff  and  arrested  the 
Kid  and  Lee  Self,  taking  them  down  to  his  ranch  at  the  mouth 
of  Rock  creek.  He  put  them  in  charge  of  his  brother  Tony.  Lee 
Self  made  his  escape.  Some  time  after  the  trouble  was  over, 
Pike  Landusky  was  standing  in  front  of  the  bar  in  Jew  Jake's 
and  talking  to  Jake  when  the  Kid,  his  brother  Lonnie  and  Jim 
Thornhill  walked  into  the  saloon.  The  Kid  and  Pike  had  a 
little  conversation  when  the  Kid  grabbed  Pike  by  the  shoulder 
and  turned  him  around  facing  him  and  struck  him  in  the  face 
several  times.  When  he  quit  Pike  asked  him  what  he  had  struck 
him  for  and  Kid  told  him  for  the  abuse  he  had  to  take  when 
he  was  in  his  power  and  could  not  help  himself.  Pike  was  trying 
to  get  his  gun  when  the  butt  showed  and  Thornhill  saw  it  and 
shouted:  'Lookout,  Kid,  he  is  going  to  shoot.'  Kid  threw  his 
arms  around  Pike  and  held  him  close  and  reached  down  and 
'drawed'  his  gun  and  pulling  it  up  between  them  to  Pike's  breast 
and  Pike  fell  dead.  Reaching  into  Pike's  pocket  he  took  his 
gun  and  the  three  went  out  of  the  saloon,  got  into  a  wagon  and 
drove  up  the  gulch  and  were  gone.  Lonnie  Curry  was  arrested  in 
Chinook  afterward  by  Wm.  Skillen,  acting  as  deputy  sheriff,  and 


118  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

taken  to  Benton  and  lodged  in  jail.  He  stood  trial.  After  hear- 
ing the  evidence  of  the  state's  witness,  Jew  Jake,  Judge  DuBoise 
ordered  the  jury  to  stand  up.  He  told  them  that  if  they  brought 
in  a  verdict  of  guilty  it  would  have  to  go  to  a  higher  court  as  the 
state's  witness  showed  that  Kid  Curry  had  killed  Landusky  in 
self-defense.  That  acquitted  Lonnie  Curry  and  Jim  Thornhill 
was  never  arrested.") 

'The  killing  of  Johnnie  Curry  by  Winters  was  a  well-known 
fact  and  he  was  advised  by  his  friends  to  leave  the  country,  but 
this  he  would  not  do.  One  morning  as  he  was  coming  out  of 
his  cabin  he  fell  at  the  hands  of  his  assassin,  who  was  hiding 
near  his  outbuildings. 

'The  night  before  he  was  killed,  Jim  Thornhill  went  to  a 
neighbor's  house  and  stayed — no  doubt  to  prove  an  alibi.  This 
led  people  to  believe  that  the  Currys  had  killed  Winters.  As 
Gill  was  a  partner  of  Winters  he  took  much  interest  in  the  matter 
and  tried  to  trace  up  his  murderer  or  murderers.  He  was  told  by 
his  friends  that  the  safest  thing  he  could  do  was  to  saddle  up  his 
horse  and  leave  the  country  if  he  placed  any  value  on  his  life. 
This  he  would  not  consent  to  do.  Detectives  have  hunted  for  his 
remains,  but  no  one  has  ever  been  able  to  find  one  single  trace 
of  either  horse  or  rider — the  work  of  destruction  had  been  so 
thoroughly  done. 

"On  July  3rd,  1901,  the  Kid  led  the  gang  that  held  up 
No.  3  at  Wagner.  They  blew  up  the  express  car  and  got  several 
thousand  dollars  of  unsigned  currency  that  was  going  to  Tom 
Marlow's  bank  in  Helena.  They  escaped  to  the  Little  Rockies 
and  it  was  a  long  time  before  the  Kid  was  apprehended,  in  Knox- 
ville,  Tenn.,  in  1903.  His  arrest  took  place  when  the  police 
raided  a  negro  gambling  house  in  the  outskirts  of  the  city.  The 
Kid,  ever  suspicious,  and  always  'heeled,'  smoked  up  the  place  so 
badly  that  he  caused  two  or  three  funerals  to  soon  take  place  in 
that  southern  city. 

'The  officials  got  it  into  their  heads  that  the  man  whom 
they  had  arrested  was  the  famous  Kid  Curry.  Frank  O'Neal,  a 
one-time  sheriff  of  Chouteau  county,  and  his  wife  were  sent  for 
to  identify  the  man.  Mrs.  O'Neal  saw  him  but  he  was  too  wise 
to  recognize  her.     Frank,  himself,  did  not  see  him. 

"Before  the  trial  came  off  the  guard  was  found  tied  up  to 
the  cage  and  the  favorite  saddle  horse  of  the  southern  sheriff  was 
missing,  never  again,  probably,  to  be  returned  to  his  stall. 

'The  Judge  of  that  particular  district  was  in  Harlem  one 
time  and  was  asked  by  an  old-time  friend  of  the  Kid's  how  he 
managed  to  escape.  The  reply  was:  'It  seems  that  the  Kid 
had  a  sister  out  west  who  was  rich  and  she  exchanged  about 
$25,000  of  her  cash,  with  the  sheriff,  for  her  brother's  freedom.' 


OHAS.   M.   RUSSELL— Cf&'boy   Artist. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  119 

"By  men  who  seem  to  know — it  was  the  band  of  horses  owned 
by  Jim  Thornhill,  a  particular  friend  of  Curry — that  had  been 
sold,  the  money  sent  to  the  sister,  who  used  it  to  help  her  brother. 

"Kid  Curry!  No  one  of  his  old  friends — and  he  seems  to 
have  many  in  the  land  of  the  Chinook — knows  where  he  is.  None 
of  them  seem  to  care  to  express  themselves  in  anything  but  terms 
of  affection,  as  they  seem  to  think  he  might  come  back  some 
time  and  place  them  in  such  a  condition  that  they  would  cease 
to  have  an  opinion. 

"It  is  said  that  he  was  not  the  only  man  on  the  Milk  river 
who  deserved  a  prison  sentence;  also  that  his  true  name  was 
Logan." 


CHAPTER  XI. 
Charles  M.  Russell. 


Probably  no  other  man  who  ever  lived  in  what  is  now  Blaine 
county  will  be  as  well  known  to  posterity  as  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  Charles  M.  Russell  was  born  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
March  19th,  1865.  He  came  to  Montana  over  the  Union 
Pacific  and  Utah  Northern  to  old  Red  Rock,  then  the  terminus, 
of  the  latter  line.  From  Red  Rock  he  came  via  coach  to  Helena. 
He  came  with  "Pike"  Miller,  or  Willis  Miller,  as  he  was  known 
to  others. 

Col.  Shirley  Ashby  tells  of  the  first  time  he  ever  saw  Charlie. 
"He  had  arrived  in  Helena  with  Miller,  a  man  with  whom  I  had 
some  previous  acquaintance  and  meeting  me  I  invited  them  to  my 
place  to  lunch.  I  really  had  never  seen  as  green  a  looking  boy 
as  Charlie  Russell  was  the  day  he  came  to  my  house.  After 
we  had  lunch  Miller  said  that  Russell  had  an  idea  that  he  could 
draw  some  and  might  become  an  artist.  He  turned  to  him  and 
said:  'Charlie  show  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ashby  what  you  can  do.' 
He  took  a  piece  of  black  wax  from  his  pocket  and  made  a  little 
horse  which  we  kept  for  years.  Charlie's  hair  was  too  long  and 
I  thought  he  needed  shearing."  In  a  conversation  with  Russell 
the  writer  got  the  following:  "We  did  not  stay  over  two  weeks 
in  Helena  and  bought  a  four-horse  team  and  wagon.  The  lead- 
ers were  brown  saddle  horses  and  the  wheelers  bay.  The  saddle 
horses  were  not  the  best  but  a  fellow  could  ride  them.  We 
started  for  the  Judith  Basin  via  Diamond,  White  Sulphur  Springs 
and  Judith  Gap.  Jack  Waite  and  Pike  had  sheep  and  my  first 
job  in  Montana  was  herding  them.  I  wasn't  much  of  a  success. 
You  see  it  was  like  this,  I  didn't  think  the  boys  had  monev  enough 

to  keep  me  supplied — as  I  could  lose  the  d d  fools  about  as 

fast  as  they  were  turned  over  to  me.     Then  Pike  and  I  had  a 


120  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

row  about  a  saddle  horse  and  I  found  that  there  was  a  job  herding 
horses  at  a  stage  station  so  I  quit.  Before  I  could  put  in  an 
application,  however,  Pike  double-crossed  me  by  seeing  the  party 
first  and  telling  him  that  I  was  no  good.  Part  of  it  was  true 
because  I  will  confess  now  that  I  was  a  bum  sheep  herder. 

"Have  always  had  a  tender  spot  in  my  heart  for  him  as  I 
needed  that  job.  Losing  out  there  I  went  to  live  with  Jake 
Hoover  on  the  South  Fork  of  the  Judith.     He  was  a  hunter. 

"In  the  spring  of  1882,  in  April,  I  returned  to  St.  Louis  and 
remained  a  month  and  then  came  back  to  Montana  on  the  North- 
ern Pacific.  A  cousin — a  boy  about  my  own  age — came  with 
me  but  he  died  soon  after  in  Billings  with  the  mountain  fever.  I 
left  Billings  on  his  horse,  broke,  and  started  for  the  north  country. 
Just  out  of  the  city,  on  Alkali  creek,  met  John  Cabler  with  about 
forty  saddle  horses,  on  his  way  to  receive  some  doggies.  They 
were  a  mixed  bunch  of  the  following  brands:  Z,  C  T  and  12. 
He  asked  if  I  wanted  work  and  I  said  yes. 

"I  night  herded  for  him,  my  first  job  of  that  kind.  At  Ross' 
Fork  we  met  the  Judith  round  up  and  I  took  a  position  as  horse 
wrangler  with  that  outfit.  I  night  herded  horses  in  the  spring 
and  beef  in  the  fall.  Never  did  take  kindly  to  broncos  as  my 
mind  and  theirs  did  not  seem  to  work  in  unison.  The  fact  is  I 
only  punched  one  season  (83)  and  that  was  on  the  Shonkin 
range. 

"I  could  always  draw  a  little;  can't  remember  my  first  work 
in  that  line  as  I  was  too  small.     No,  I  never  dreamed  of  fame. 

Story  of  the  Last  of  Five  Thousand. 

"Why  that  story  is  generally  well  known  isn't  it?  Oh,  you 
have  heard  different  reports?  Well,  it  was  like  this:  The 
winter  of  '86-7  was  a  noted  one.  I  was  with  Jesse  Phelps  on 
the  O.  H.  ranch.  Jesse  got  a  letter  from  Louie  Kaufman  asking 
how  things  were.  He  sat  down  to  write  a  letter  and  explain 
things  and  I  told  him  I  would  make  a  sketch  and  put  in.  The 
sketch  was  a  —  R  cow,  Kaufman's;  nothing  said  about  the  last 
of  five  thousand — only,  'Waiting  for  a  Chinook,'  was  the  name 
given  it.  It  was  on  a  piece  of  writing  paper  and  was  only  a 
small  thing  of  probably  2x4  inches.  No  letter  was  sent.  Ben 
Roberts  got  it  from  Kaufman  and  later  sold  it  to  Wallis  Huide- 
koper,  who  says  he  may  give  it  to  the  Historical  Society. 

"It  was  done  in  water  colors  that  I  used  to  pack  in  a  sock  in 
those  days. 

"Indians  are  quite  observing  as  I  recall  a  picture  I  painted  of 
Bill  Jones.  In  the  braids  of  his  hair  he  had  seven  brass  tags  or 
buttons  which  are  used  for  ornamental  purposes.     I  failed  to  get 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  121 

in  more  than  five  and  he  soon  called  my  attention  to  the  fact  and 
asked  that  the  others  should  be  put  in.  When  this  was  done 
he  looked  at  it  and  said,  'Good.'  Not  long  after  this  I  was  down 
on  the  reservation  and  was  called  into  Bill's  lodge  as  he  said 
he  wanted  to  show  me  something.  He  had  a  package  which  he 
began  to  unwrap  and  after  a  time  he  exhibited  the  picture  which 
he  had  tacked  to  a  board  and  holding  it  up  said:     'Bill  Jones, 

Good  man,  son  of  a .'     It  seems  that  Bill's  vocabulary  was 

very  limited  and  as  he  wished  to  use  all  that  he  knew  in  his  con- 
versation, he  always  wound  up  with  the  last  phrase.  As  I  never 
had  any  acquaintance  with  Bill's  family  he  may  have  been  telling 
the  truth. 

"No,  I  am  not  the  'Chip  of  the  Flying  U\  I  knew  Bertha 
M.  Bowers  and  she  married  Sinclair,  the  cow-puncher  whom  we 
used  to  call  'Fiddle  Back.' 

"My  Indian  study  came  from  observation  and  by  living  with 
the  Blackfeet  in  Alberta  for  about  six  months.  I  don't  know 
much  about  them  even  now;  they  are  a  hard  people  to  'sabe'." 

When  asked  what  he  considered  his  best  picture,  he  replied : 
"I  have  never  painted  it  yet.  I  feel  that  I  am  improving  right 
along.  It  takes  me  longer  to  paint  a  picture  now  and  I  work 
harder.  The  highest  price  I  ever  received  for  a  picture  was  $5,000, 
the  one  in  the  Capitol.  If  some  of  the  high  officials  had  had 
their  way  that  work  would  have  been  done  by  an  eastern  man. 

"I  was  married  in  the  fall  of  1 896  to  Nancy  Cooper.  I  never 
could  remember  the  month  or  date — you  would  have  to  ask  her 
about  that.  We  never  had  any  children  until  recently,  when  we 
adopted  a  little  boy.  Say,  they  are  some  people,  those  little 
baby  fellows  and  no  one  could  love  that  fellow  more  than  we  do. 
'Yes  several  of  my  pictures  were  sold  in  New  York.  Had 
some  in  London  but  the  war  stopped  the  sale. 

"Oh,   yes,    Linderman   has   told   you   about   a   reception    in 

London?     Well,  it  was  about  like  this:     Sir was  giving 

a  reception  to  which  Mrs.  Russell  and  myself  were  invited.  I 
was  handed  our  hostess  for  my  partner  when  we  went  into  the 
dining  room,  and  I  was  surely  handed  some  bunch,  for  she  was  so 
large  that  we  could  not  both  go  through  the  door  of  the  dining 
room  at  the  same  time  so  I  stepped  back  and  carelessly  trod  on 
her  train.  Say,  she  squatted  and  pulled  on  that  encumbrance  like 
a  cayuse  on  a  rope.  I  got  off  as  soon  as  I  felt  the  strain,  but 
not  before  she  had  ripped  quite  a  lot  of  her  gown,  and  then  I 
simply  straddled  the  long-tailed  dress  and  went  in  tandem  until 
there  was  room  enough  to  go  in  double  harness  again. 

"What  seemed  to  be  the  funniest  thing  to  me  in  London  was 
when  I  wanted  to  get  my  watch  fixed.  I  slipped  into  a  jewelry 
store  and  asked  a  fellow  if  he  could  'fix'  my  watch;  he  said  'Naw.' 


122  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

I  knew  that  they  could  as  I  saw  them  at  work.  I  stepped  out  and 
meeting  a  man  whom  I  knew  had  been  in  the  U.  S.  I  said :  'What 
does  a  fellow  have  to  say  to  these  guys  when  he  wants  to  get  his 
watch  fixed?'  'Why  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  Russell.' 
Well,  it  is  like  this,  my  watch  won't  go  and  I  don't  know  how  to 
make  these  fellows  understand.  'Oh,  don't  you  know,  you 
should  have  said  repahred'." 

'There  is  altogether  too  much  civilization;  no  place  to  camp 
out  any  more.  I  have  a  saddle  horse  and  ride  each  morning,  but 
a  fellow  has  to  ride  in  the  alleys,  if  he  rides  in  the  city,  as  the 
pavements  are  so  smooth  a  horse  can't  keep  its  feet.  There  was  a 
tirr  '  when  I  could  tie  my  horse  in  Central  avenue  in  front  of  the 

Silver  Dollar,  but  a  fellow  would  be  in  a  h of  a  fix  now  as 

there  are  too  many  autos;  you  can't  get  near  the  sidewalk.  My 
wife  has  an  auto  and  I  ride  with  her  once  in  a  while  but  I  just 
as  leave  go  in  a  street  car."  (While  the  writer  was  getting  a 
story  from  Charlie  he  was  busily  engaged  on  one  of  the  historical 
paintings  which  he  is  doing  for  Cole,  the  Duluth  millionaire,  of 
which  there  are  to  be  four.  Three  of  them  represent  scenes  in 
the  life  of  "Buffalo  BUI,"  "Killing  of  Yellow  Hand,"  "Hunting 
With  Duke  Alexis,"  "Discovery  of  Cheyenne  Camp"  and  one 
Lewis  and  Clark,  'The  Meeting  of  the  Shoshones"  on  the 
Beaverhead,  While  talking  to  me  he  was  working  on  "Killing 
of  Yellow  Hand."  In  the  studio  at  the  time  was  the  young  boy, 
Joe  De  Young.  He  is  also  a  St.  Louis  boy,  23  years  of  age, 
though  he  does  not  look  to  be  more  than  sixteen.  He  is  deaf. 
He  bids  fair  to  become  a  noted  man  as  he  is  working  under 
Russell.    Was  at  work  on  a  picture  at  the  time. 

Charlie  Russell  came  to  Montana  as  a  boy  of  fifteen  and  at 
once  became  identified  with  the  range  country.  Fifteen  is  not 
an  age  when  one  can  expect  much  wisdom  in  a  boy — and  espe- 
cially when  one  is  thrown  in  with  a  free  and  easy  lot  of  fellows 
such  as  the  majority  of  cowboys  were.  One  can  readily  see  that 
a  youth  would  be  apt  to  fall  into  the  faults  his  associates  had. 
Charles  M.  Russell  is  now  known  as  a  national  character.  As 
he  said:  "I  do  my  work  because  I  love  it."  Sawing  wood,  dig- 
ging ditches  and  working  in  disagreeable  occupations  would  not 
appeal  to  one  of  Russell's  temperament.  He  is  a  great  story 
teller  and  was  fond  of  the  cowboy  life  and  the  cowboy  pranks. 
He  would  try  anything  once,  and  if  he  liked  it  try  it  again.  Night 
herding  gave  him  more  chance  to  visit  and  study  the  different 
classes  of  men  and  the  conditions,  as  he  saw  them,  than  if  he 
had  been  a  full-fledged  cowpuncher  putting  in  long  hours  on 
the  range.  He  rode  in  the  Judith  and  later  came  to  the  Milk 
river  country,  where  he  was  well  known.  In  order  to  give  some 
of  the  human  side  of  this  now  noted  man  the  writer  went  to  some 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  123 

of  the  old-time  cowpunchers  and  asked  them  for  a  lineup  on  him, 
any  little  story  they  thought  would  be  of  interest.  He  was  able 
to  gather  some  very  active  and  interesting  incidents  connected 
with  the  subject,  on  the  Milk  river  and  especially  Chinook.  They 
are  as  follows:  "I  first  saw  Russell,"  Jim  Dorrit  says,  "at  High- 
wood,  Canada,  at  a  ranch  where  I  had  gone  for  a  horse.  He 
and  his  partner,  who  had  a  broken  collar  bone,  were  stopping  at 
an  English  ranch.  There  was  no  oil  in  the  place  so  the  boys  had 
rigged  up  a  light  (of  ill  sounding  name)  with  some  grease  in  a 
small  dish  and  a  rag  for  a  wick.  One  of  them  would  stir  the  grease 
while  the  other  would  read  a  few  lines.  Neither  of  them  could 
read  very  well  then  and  they  would  comment  on  it  in  a  corneal 
way.  He  was  drawing  some  in  those  days  but  was  not  considered 
much  of  a  painter." 

Much  of  the  following  was  told  by  Bob  Stuart  and  K.  Lowery 
and  they  are  true.     They  are  old-time  friends  of  Russell. 

Bob  said:  "The  winter  of  '91-2  Charlie  Russell,  Al  Mal- 
lison,  Toney  Crawford,  'Kik'  Price,  John  Thompson,  Trumbel 
(cannot  recall  his  first  name)  and  myself  got  a  cabin  and  started 
in  to  batch. 

"W.  C.  Kester  of  the  Chinook  Opinion  gave  the  boys  quite 
a  little  space  and  dubbed  us  'The  Hungry  Seven.'  We  had  about 
$175  which  we  put  in  the  'pot'  and  got  as  many  supplies  in  the 
grub  line  as  we  could.  We  were  all  young  and  full  of  fun,  but 
some  of  the  stunts  look  better  now,  than  they  did  then,  to  those 
on  whom  our  little  jobs  were  pulled  off.  Charlie  and  the  'Kid' 
should  have  been  preachers — if  preachers  are  not  lied  about — 
because  they  were  mighty  fond  of  chicken.  As  they  had  none 
themselves  they  went  on  still  hunts  for  them  in  the  evening  when 
one  was  less  apt  to  see  them  than  if  they  went  in  the  day  time. 
Kester  had  a  fine  bunch  of  chickens,  which  was  too  much  of  a 
temptation  for  the  boys,  so  one  night  Charlie  and  the  'Kid'  made 
up  their  minds  (and  that  was  not  hard)  to  raid  his  hen  house. 
Russell  stood  guard  while  the  'Kid'  went  in  to  secure  the  birds. 
He  was  to  give  the  high-sign  if  anything  turned  up,  and  it  did,  by 
Kester  coming  to  the  back  door  of  his  house.  Charlie  saw  him 
and  in  his  excitement  pushed  the  chicken  house  door  to  and  rushed 
for  the  cabin  as  fast  as  he  could  run,  leaving  the  'Kid'  to  the 
tender  mercy  of  Kester,  if  he  should  be  found.  Kester  went  out 
loaded  for  bear  but  finding  the  door  closed  went  back  to  the  house 
and  the  'Kid'  soon  arrived  at  the  cabin  with  some  fine  birds.  We 
proceeded  to  get  them  ready  for  eating  as  we  had  no  wish  to 
wait  till  morning  as  we  never  knew  what  would  turn  up,  and 
another  thing,  we  would  be  sure  we  would  know  where  they 
were.  Charlie  was  hardly  over  his  nervousness  by  the  time  the 
Kid  came.     The  chickens  were  about  done  and  the  table  set 


124  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

when  there  was  a  loud  knock  on  the  door.  Russell  grabbed  the 
hot  frying  pan,  pushed  it  under  one  of  the  bunks.  When  the  door 
opened  there  stood  Frank  O'Neal,  the  sheriff. 

'You  could  almost  hear  those  fellows  teeth  chatter.  Frank 
could  hear  the  chicken  frying  in  the  hot  grease  under  the  bed  and 
he  said:  'You  are  having  a  feast,  aren't  you — well,  go  ahead, 
all  I  want  is  to  get  three  or  four  of  you  fellows  as  witnesses  on  a 
case  that  is  to  come  off  in  Benton.'  Kester  never  really  knew  who 
got  his  chickens,  but  he  went  into  his  house  and  told  his  wife  that 
he  wished  he  could  have  gotten  a  shot  at  that  fellow  who  ran 
away. 

"In  those  days  there  was  a  lady  who  was  a  very  active  church 
member.  She  had  made  up  her  mind  to  invite  the  minister  to  a 
chicken  dinner  the  following  Sunday  and  had  told  Kid  Price 
about  it.  She  evidently  did  not  know  him  or  she  would  have 
withheld  such  information  because  he  went  that  night  with  Rus- 
sell and  stole  the  two  young  birds  that  were  to  have  been  the 
'piece  de  resistance.'  Not  only  did  they  get  the  roosters,  but  they 
dressed  them,  cut  off  their  heads  and  took  them  and  the  feathers 
and  placed  them  in  the  back  yard  of  the  pastor.  When  the  lady 
got  ready  to  kill  she  missed  the  poultry  and  seeing  the  Kid,  sought 
his  sympathy,  He  was  much  surprised  but  recalled  that  he  had 
seen  fresh  chicken  feathers  as  he  passed  the  preacher's  house.  Of 
course  they  might  not  have  been  from  the  missing  chickens,  and 
then  again  they  might,  as  no  one  could  tell.  The  lady  had  a 
little  boy  who  went  over  to  the  minister's  home  and  soon  returned 
with  the  heads,  saying:  'They  are  ours  alright.'  The  lady  went 
to  church  but  marched  out  with  her  head  held  high  and  the 
preacher  got  left. 

"I  also  remember  Charlie's  first  girl.  He  had  become  intro- 
duced to  her  and  wanted  to  take  her  to  a  dance.  He  was  to 
get  a  team  and  take  her  but  as  he  came  to  the  conclusion  he  could 
not  drive  he  got  me  to  take  her  and  he  rode  on  horse  back.  He 
had  taken  her  to  several  dances  and  thought  he  was  making  an 
impression.  One  night  he  had  her  to  a  dance  at  Chinook.  They 
were  sitting  having  a  nice  little  sociable  chat  when  one  of  the 
stock  men  named  Charlie  Williams  came  in  and  entered  into  a 
conversation  with  her  in  which  she  turned  her  back  to  Charlie 
Russell.  She  sat  there  for  some  time  very  much  interested  in 
what  Williams  was  saying  and  Russell,  becoming  disgusted, 
tapped  her  on  the  shoulder  and  said:  'I'm  here  yet,'  got  up 
and  left  her  and  never  tried  again  to  win  her  affections. 

"It  is  kind  of  funny  what  will  come  into  a  fellow's  head 
when  thinking  of  those  old  days.  We  did  not  have  much  money 
so  Charlie  thought  he  had  made  a  good  fellow  of  himself  and 
established  a  credit  at  Lohman's.     He  came  back  highly  elated. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  125 

I  guess  he  must  have  bought  about  forty  cents  worth  of  tobacco 
and  papers  for  the  makings,  when  he  was  shut  off  in  the  follow- 
ing way:  When  he  ordered  anything  he  had  a  way  of  holding 
up  a  finger,  which  meant  'Charge  that.'  One  day  he  went  for 
a  few  things  and  held  up  his  finger  and  Lohman  said :  'Russell, 
that  finger  of  yours  is  too  long  already.'  Russell  returned  to  the 
cabin  and  put  in  two  days  painting  a  picture  for  which  he  received 
seventy-five  dollars  and  told  us  never  to  buy  another  thing  of 
Lohman. 

"Those  were  great  days.  Charlie  was  a  prince  alright,  with 
one  of  the  biggest  hearts  any  man  ever  had.  He  was  never  a 
cowpuncher  because  he  never  liked  the  wild  horses.  I  recall  one 
night  when  it  was  raining  and  he  had  to  go  on  the  night  herd. 
He  put  on  his  slicker  and  that  made  the  horse  nervous  and  he 
soon  got  nervous,  with  the  result  he  had  to  crawl  on  again.  One 
night  on  the  Big  Sandy,  Charlie  and  myself  were  trying  to  hold  a 
bunch  of  beef  and  as  it  was  getting  late  in  the  fall  it  began  to 
rain,  which  turned  to  sleet  and  our  slickers  would  simply  pop 
every  time  we  moved.  The  storm  was  coming  from  the  northeast 
and  the  cattle  began  to  drift  toward  the  Coal  Banks  on  the 
Missouri.  Charlie  said:  'What  are  we  going  to  do?'  I  told 
him  if  he  would  go  ahead  and  try  and  keep  them  back  I  would 
bring  up  the  drag.     He  soon  came  back  and  said:  'I  can't  hold 

them,  they  are  going  in  every  direction;  let  'em  go  to  h and 

we  will  get  them  next  fall.'  I  replied  all  right,  but  you  will  have 
to  make  good  with  the  boss.  In  speaking  to  Charlie  about  this 
particular  night  he  said  he  recalled  it  very  well.  That  they  had 
a  time  finding  the  camp  and  when  he  did  he  got  so  near  the  tent 
he  stepped  right  on  the  face  of  'Missouri  Jim,'  the  boss." 

When  in  Chinook  the  writer  told  "Kid"  Price  what  Bob 
Stuart  and  K.  Lowery  had  told  me  and  he  said  he  never  batched 
with  such  a  bunch,  as  he  had  too  much  respect  for  himself.  "I 
had  a  little  money  with  which  I  bought  two  mavericks  and  gave 
to  them  but  they  traded  the  meat  off  for  questionable  pleasure  and 
I  had  to  steal  chickens  to  keep  the  sons  of  guns  from  starving. 
You  ask  Russell  if  he  remembers  the  time  that  Judge  Richie  was 
after  us  with  a  blunder-bus  and  we  could  not  make  as  good  time 
as  we  wanted  to  as  we  had  a  chicken  under  each  arm."  When 
the  writer  got  to  Great  Falls  he  called  Russell's  attention  to  the 
stories  he  had  heard  and  asked  if  the  boys  had  been  stringing  him. 
'No,  they  have  all  told  you  pretty  near  the  truth,  except  the 
'Kid,'  because  he  did  batch  with  us  and  he  was  the  fellow  that 
gave  pretty  near  a  whole  steer  away  and  was  the  only  one  to 
receive  any  direct  benefit.  Did  the  'Kid'  tell  you  about  the  time 
one  of  the  ladies  (  ?)  of  Chinook,  who  was  a  splendid  cook,  told 
him  if  he  could  furnish  the  chickens  she  would  get  up  a  nice 


126  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

dinner  and  invite  the  gang?  Well,  he  ought  not  to  have  forgotten 
that.  He  got  the  chickens  and  a  splendid  dinner  with  all  the 
'fixin's'  was  the  result.  She  bragged  about  what  fine  fowl  they 
were — that  she  had  never  eaten  better — and  well  she  might,  for 
when  she  went  to  feed  her  birds  the  next  day  they  were  gone. 

"Those  were  good  days  in  Chinook.  Say,  how  is  'Daddy 
Marsh'?"  When  answered  that  "Daddy"  was  fine,  he  asked: 
"Does  he  drink  any  these  days?" 

The  writer  replied  that  "Daddy"  had  told  him  that  he  had 
not  taken  a  drink  for  nineteen  years.  "Why,  'Daddy'  must  be 
a  liar  because  I  was  down  to  Chinook  about  ten  years  ago,  and 
the  whole  town  was  drunk — at  least  that  is  the  way  they  appeared 
to  me." 

In  closing  this  I  want  to  say  that  Russell  has  been  told  that 
these  little  things — giving  the  other  side  of  the  picture — are  to  be 
printed.  They  only  show  the  human  side  of  a  genius.  Russell 
has  become  a  famous  man,  but  today  he  said:  "I  can't  paint  an 
Indian  head  with  Ed  Paxon,  nor  can  I  mix  his  colors." 

The  uncouth  Missouri  boy  who  came  to  Montana  with 
"Pike"  Miller  could  hardly  have  expected  to  go  down  in  the 
story  of  cur  state  as  one  of  its  famous  men.  When  the  wealth  of 
Daly  or  Clark  shall  have  been  dissipated — and  grand  structures 
become  dust — the  works  of  Russell  "The  Cow  Boy  Arist,"  will 
be  treasured  by  those  who  like  art.  He  has  painted  a  condition 
that,  but  for  him,  would  have  been  lost  to  future  generations. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
Topography  of  the  County. 

Blaine  county  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Canada,  east  by 
Phillips  county,  south  by  Phillips  county  and  the  Missouri  river, 
and  west  by  Hill  county.  The  area  is  42 1 9  square  miles  and  it  is 
not  easy  to  state  the  number  of  inhabitants,  as  it  being  a  new  sec- 
tion, people  are  coming  in  very  fast.  Information  received  at 
Helena  states  the  number  of  inhabitants  as  10,830;  assessed  valu- 
ation, $5,587,686.00. 

It  is  really  in  the  valley  of  the  Milk  river.  The  river  rises  in 
the  Rocky  mountains  and  runs  north  into  Canada  and  then  south 
into  Montana,  thence  in  a  southeasterly  direction  to  the  Missouri. 
The  major  portion  of  the  county  is  plains  and  bench  lands,  with 
the  Little  Rockies  and  a  part  of  the  Bear's  Paw  range  on  the 
south  to  form  some  relief  to  the  general  monotony  of  the  country. 

All  of  the  Bear's  Paw  are  not  in  Blaine  county,  as  part  of 
them  are  in  Hill  county.  The  range  does  not  constitute  a  true 
mountain  range,  but  consists,  in  the  eastern  part,  of  a  group  of  low 


The  following  is  a  fae-simile  of  a  letter  from  Chas.  M.  Russell,  the  Cowboy 
Artist,  to  his  old  friend  "Kid"  Price,  of  whom  Russell  said  :  "The  'Kid'  could 
sure  ride  the  bad  ones." 


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THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  127 

rounded  buttes  more  or  less  separated  from  one  another,  and  in 
the  western  part  of  a  series  of  dissected  ridges  gradually  rising 
higher  toward  the  west  to  their  culmination  in  Baldy  or  Bear  Paw 
mountain  and  Centennial  peak.  The  highest,  Bear  Paw,  being 
7040  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  about  4000  feet  above 
the  plains. 

The  Little  Rockies  are  the  part  of  the  south  boundary  that 
separate  Blaine  and  Phillips  counties. 

The  Little  Rockies  have  very  promising  gold  quartz  mines 
on  which  there  is  one  of  the  largest  gold  producing  plants  in  the 
world.  This  section  was  only  a  part  of  Blaine  county  until  such 
time  as  would  be  necessary  to  pull  the  string  and  get  a  county 
for  Ben  Phillips.  The  Little  Rockies  appear  to  be  a  true  moun- 
tain range  with  a  length  of  probably  twenty  miles  and  a  width 
of  ten.  In  the  canyons  of  this  range  one  finds  many  beauty  spots 
and  at  one  place  not  far  from  the  Saint  Paul's  Mission  is  a  very 
pretty  Natural  Bridge  that  is  formed  over  a  dry  canyon. 

Several  fine  mountain  streams  have  their  source  in  these 
mountains  and  flow  toward  the  Milk  river,  or  more  particularly 
into  Peoples  creek,  which  is  a  stream  rising  in  the  Bear's  Paw  and 
flowing  in  an  easterly  or  northeasterly  direction  to  the  Milk  river, 
near  Dodson. 

Snake  creek  also  rises  in  the  Bear's  Paw  and  flows  north- 
easterly into  the  Milk  river,  near  Harlem.  The  valley  proper  of 
the  Milk  river  is  three  or  four  miles  wide  and  is  susceptible  of 
irrigation  and  will  respond  verv  nicely  to  cultivation  when  under 
water.  The  soil  is  very  heavy  clay  or  "gumbo."  The  Milk 
river  is  a  small  sluggish  stream  that  can  be  and  may  be  when  the 
wise  (?)  men  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  Washington  wake  up,  a 
considerable  factor  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  state,  as  up  in  the  far 
western  portion  of  the  plains  is  the  St.  Marys  river  that  has  its 
head  among  the  mountains  of  Glacier  park.  That  stream  flows 
into  Canada,  but  the  water  can  be  diverted  and  sent  to  do  much 
good  in  a  section  where  good  water  is  at  a  premium. 

The  northern  portion  of  the  county  is  a  high  bench  or  plateau. 
Much  of  the  county  can  be  and  is  at  this  time  successfully  culti- 
vated. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Political  History  of  Blaine  County. 

At  the  time  when  what  is  now  Blaine  county  was  being  set- 
tled by  ihe  "Dry  Land  Farmer"  there  was  in  Montana,  the  sec- 
ond largest  county,  in  area,  of  any  state  in  the  Union.     The 


128  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

largest  was  in  California,  and  was  some  two  or  three  thousand 
square  miles  larger  than  the  old  Chouteau  of  northern  Montana, 
which  contained  over  sixteen  thousand  square  miles. 

It  was  probably  perfectly  proper  in  the  days  of  the  stockman, 
when  it  was  sparsely  settled,  for  only  one  county  to  exist,  as  the 
business  could  be  transacted  at  Benton  without  too  much  expense. 
When  all  of  the  available  land  was  taken  up  for  farming,  the 
people  found  that  there  was  some  excuse  for  making  new  counties, 
so  the  reason  for  the  division  of  Chouteau  county  might  be  con- 
sidered from  two  standpoints :  One  was  that  the  enterprising  citi- 
zens in  various  parts  of  the  county  were  desirous  of  obtaining  a 
county  seat  for  themselves  and  the  other  one  was  of  the  size  of 
the  county  and  the  distance  to  the  county  seat,  which  was  at  Fort 
Benton,  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  county. 

In  1893  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  legislature  to  organize 
Blaine  county  to  consist  of  what  is  now  Blaine  and  the  east  third 
of  Hill  county,  including  the  city  of  Havre.  This  bill  passed 
one  house  and  lacked  one  vote,  I  believe,  in  the  other  house. 

Another  effort  was  made  to  organize  this  county  in  the  name 
of  Bear  Paw  county  in  1901  or  1903.  Ex-Senator  T.  M. 
Everett  was  then  in  the  house  and  George  Bourne  was  in  the 
senate.  The  bill  passed  the  house  very  quickly  but  was  held  up 
in  the  senate  until  the  next  to  the  last  day  of  the  session.  Enough 
senators  were  pledged  to  pass  the  bill,  but  on  the  morning  the 
vote  was  taken,  J.  M.  Kennedy,  senator  from  Deer  Lodge 
county,  got  up  late  and  came  in  just  after  the  vote  was  counted. 
It  lacked  one  vote  of  a  tie.  The  lieutenant  governor  had  agreed 
to  vote  for  the  bill  in  case  of  a  tie.  Kennedy  expressed  great  dis- 
appointment and  chagrin  at  being  late. 

It  seemed  hardly  possible  that  we  could  get  another  bill  back 
to  the  house  and  through  the  senate  before  time  for  closing  the 
session,  but  we  went  at  it  resolutely,  and  by  changing  the  boun- 
daries slightly  on  the  south  to  meet  the  objections  of  McNamara 
&  Marlow,  who  were  opposing  the  bill,  we  got  it  to  the  commit- 
tee and  the  house  ordered  the  bill  printed  the  first  day.  When 
we  took  the  bill  to  the  state  printers  they  claimed  they  could  not 
get  it  out  until  the  next  morning,  which  meant  death  to  the  bill. 
Nothing  daunted,  however,  we  hired  a  private  printing  outfit  to 
get  it  printed  during  the  night.  About  nine  in  the  evening  some 
one  came  in  and  bribed  the  printer  who  was  employed  on  the 
work.  However,  we  found  another  to  do  the  work  and  placed 
sentries  at  each  door  so  no  one  could  get  in.  At  about  eleven, 
when  we  were  ready  to  go  to  press,  the  power  was  turned  off  and 
we  had  neither  power  nor  light  to  run  the  press.  There  was  a 
hand  power  press  in  the  building,  however,  and  we  started  that 
and  by  working  all  night,  were  able  to  have  the  bill  out  the  first 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  129 

thing  in  the  morning.  For  those  who  knew  Charlie  Barton  in 
his  lifetime,  it  may  be  a  surprise  to  know  that  he  was  one  of  the 
chief  pushers  on  the  hand  press.  I  venture  to  say  he  sweat  more 
on  that  job  than  on  any  job  since  he  was  a  young  man.  The  bill 
was  quickly  passed  through  the  house  under  the  leadership  of 
Ex-Senator  Everett,  who  was  a  prime  favorite  in  that  body,  and 
it  was  brought  to  a  vote  in  the  senate  late  that  evening.  This 
time  Kennedy  was  there,  but  instead  of  casting  his  vote  in  favor 
of  the  bill,  he  cast  it  against  it,  as  did  one  of  the  other  senators 
who  had  previously  voted  for  it,  and  county  division  was  dead 
for  two  years  at  least. 

The  next  effort  was  made  in  1907,  and  included  the  same 
territory  as  the  former  bills;  that  is,  all  of  Blaine  and  about  one- 
third  of  Hill  county.  By  this  time  Havre  had  become  quite  a 
city  and  its  people  were  very  much  opposed  as  it  left  them  very 
much  to  one  side  of  the  county,  the  west  line  of  the  county  run- 
ning near  Fort  Assinniboine.  This  time  the  county  was  to  be 
named  Bear  Paw  county.  In  this  case,  the  bill  passed  the  Senate, 
with  Harlem  as  the  temporary  county  seat,  but  did  not  get  a 
favorable  vote  in  the  house.  The  fight  to  name  the  temporary 
county  seat  between  Chinook  and  Harlem  was  very  heated,  but 
the  personal  popularity  of  Senator  Everett,  and  the  fact  that 
Harlem  was  almost  in  the  geographical  center  of  the  proposed 
county,  gave  Harlem  the  best  of  it. 

In  191  1  another  bill  was  prepared  and  printed  for  the  crea- 
tion of  Blaine  county  almost  according  to  its  present  lines.  These 
lines  were  agreed  upon  by  the  people  of  Havre,  Chinook  and 
Harlem  previous  to  the  preparation  of  the  bill,  and  probably  the 
bill  would  have  passed  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  enactment  of 
the  general  law  authorizing  the  organization  of  counties  by  the 
people  within  the  county.  When  that  bill  was  passed,  no  further 
effort  was  made  to  create  Blaine  county  by  act  of  the  Legislature. 

In  the  summer  of  1911,  the  people  of  both  Havre  and 
Chinook  commenced  the  agitation  of  county  division.  The  Havre 
people  wanted  a  county  to  embrace  all  of  what  is  now  Hill  and 
Blaine  counties,  with  Havre  as  the  county  seat.  The  Chinook 
people  naturally  preferred  a  different  arrangement,  and  they  very 
quietly  prepared  a  bill  for  the  creation  of  what  is  now  Blaine 
county,  then  they  started  a  very  energetic  campaign  to  get  signa- 
tures, sending  out  fourteen  teams  or  more  the  first  day.  Before 
the  Havre  people  realized  what  was  being  done,  the  Blaine  county 
people  had  almost  enough  signatures  to  insure  the  submission  of 
the  question  to  the  people.  The  Havre  and  Harlem  people  pro- 
posed to  fight  the  Blaine  county  proposition,  and  circulate  instead, 
petitions  for  the  creation  of  the  county  of  Hill  to  include  Blaine, 
but  when  it  was  found  by  the  Havre  people  that  the  Blaine 


130  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

county  petition  was  almost  completed,  they  abandoned  the  hope 
of  defeating  the  organization  of  Blaine  county,  and  they  immedi- 
ately commenced  the  circulation  of  Hill  county  petitions  to  em- 
brace only  that  part  of  Chouteau  county  as  later  organized  into 
Hill  county. 

The  original  law  for  the  creation  of  counties  by  the  people 
was  very  indefinite,  and  the  proponents  of  Blaine  county  were 
compelled  to  get  an  order  from  the  Supreme  Court  before  the 
Commissioners  would  order  the  election.  In  the  meantime,  the 
Hill  county  petitions  were  prepared  and  filed  and  election  was 
held  on  the  same  day  in  both  counties  in  February,  1912.  The 
Hill  county  returns  were  filed  one  day  earlier  than  Blaine  county, 
so  Hill  county  was  in  fact,  the  first  county  organized  under  the 
law  for  the  organization  of  counties  by  the  people,  but  Blaine 
county  was  the  first  to  circulate  and  file  petitions  under  this  law. 

As  soon  as  the  Commissioners  ordered  a  vote  on  the  Blaine 
county  petitions,  would-be  office  holders  got  busy.  Chinook  citi- 
zens contented  themselves  with  the  county  seat.  All  officers  were 
elected  from  the  eastern  part  of  the  proposed  county.  A  non- 
partisan convention  was  held  at  Dodson,  presided  over  by  Mr. 
McCandless,  manager  of  the  Ruby  Gulch  Mining  company  at 
Zortman.  Everything  went  off  peaceably  and  every  one  ap- 
peared to  be  fairly  well  satisfied.  The  vote  was  very  strong  in 
favor  of  the  creation  of  the  county.  The  selection  of  a  name  for 
the  new  county  was  left  to  Attorney  W.  B.  Sands,  who  prepared 
the  petitions  for  circulation. 

At  the  time  Blaine  county  was  created,  the  first  officials  were : 
L.  B.  Taylor,  senator;  John  Collins,  representative;  Thos. 
Dowen,  E.  M.  Kennedy  and  Robert  Coburn,  county  commis- 
sioners; Isaac  Neibaur,  sheriff;  Daniel  C.  Kenyon,  treasurer;  J. 
Dwight  Jones,  clerk  of  the  district  court;  Vernon  Butler,  clerk 
and  recorder;  William  Johnson,  assessor;  Donald  L.  Blackstone, 
county  attorney;  Miss  A.  L.  Short,  superintendent  of  schools; 
Preston  M.  Bosley,  public  administrator;  Dr.  Kosciusko,  coroner, 
and  A.  G.  Middleton,  county  surveyor;  all  Progressives,  as  it 
was  a  Progressive  year  in  this  part  of  Montana. 

At  the  time  of  the  creation  of  Blaine  county  there  were  two 
aspirants  for  the  county  seat,  Chinook,  situated  within  eight  miles 
of  the  western  boundary  of  the  county ;  Harlem,  which  was  situ- 
ated very  near  the  geographical  center  of  the  county,  east  and 
west.  The  geographical  location  of  the  two  towns  should  have 
given  the  county  seat  to  Harlem,  and  perhaps  would  have  done 
so,  except  for  the  fact  that  Senator  Ben.  D.  Phillips,  who  lived 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  county  (or  to  be  exact,  owned 
large  interests  there  and  who  lived  the  most  of  the  time  in  Oak- 
land, Cal.)  had  in  view  a  further  division  scheme  which  would 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  131 

segregate  the  eastern  part  of  the  new  county,  and  with  the  west- 
ern part  of  Valley  county  create  a  new  one,  which  was  to  be 
named  for  him.  In  order  to  carry  out  his  dream  he  entered  into 
an  agreement  with  the  town  boosters  of  Chinook  to  deliver  the 
vote  of  the  east  portion  of  the  county  to  Chinook  for  the  county 
seat. 

The  Honorable  (?)  B.  D.  Phillips,  being  the  principal 
owner  of  the  mines  in  the  Little  Rockies,  as  well  as  one  of  the 
largest  sheep  men  and  land  owners  of  the  state,  was  in  a  position 
to  deliver  the  vote,  and  hence  the  county  seat  as  he  had  agreed 
to  do. 

It  is  easy  to  see  why  Chinook  got  the  county  seat;  because 
the  man  who  could  see  into  the  future  far  enough  to  work  the 
people  for  personal  reasons  and  for  selfish  motives,  without  regard 
for  their  personal  interests,  wanted  to  strengthen  a  future  plan  by 
which  he  could  again  tear  asunder  the  new  county  which  he  had 
helped  create  and  from  its  members  make  something  that  was  to 
bear  his  name  so  the  future  generations  would  know  that  he  had 
lived.  Had  I  been  Ben  I  should  have  left  this  to  some  other 
generation  or  to  other  hands  to  place  my  name  on  the  scroll. 

Two  years  is  only  a  short  time  in  the  story  of  a  county,  but  it 
is  long  enough  to  see  the  scheme  of  the  honorable  gentleman 
carried  into  effect.  The  new  county  of  Phillips  was  created  out 
of  the  sections  as  above  mentioned. 

The  assessor  of  Blaine  county  in  one  instance  at  least,  assessed 
Mr.  Phillips  on  a  portion  of  his  mining  property  in  the  Little 
Rockies.  This  was  something  that  had  seldom  been  done  when 
the  property  was  in  old  Chouteau  county.  This  act  in  itself  was 
teaching  him  that  he  must  get  busy  and  create  a  county  where 
his  political  influence  would  be  of  value,  as  it  was  a  little  on  the 
wane,  as  too  many  new  people  were  coming  in  as  settlers  who 
were  not  acquainted  with  him  and  did  not  feel  under  any  obliga- 
tions to  him. 

He  wanted  a  county  which  he  could  control,  politically,  and 
especially  as  to  taxation  of  mines,  so  he  manipulated  the  lines 
of  the  new  county  of  Phillips  so  as  to  take  in  all  his  property, 
and  at  the  same  time  leave  as  much  political  opposition  as  was 
possible,  out. 

After  all  is  said  and  done,  we  have  got  to  take  our  hats  off 
to  Ben  Phillips.  A  great  many  mean  things  have  been  said  about 
him  and  have  been  published  about  him  in  some  of  the  leading 
magazines  in  the  country.  To  me,  who  has  known  him  for 
many  years,  there  is  much  that  can  be  said  in  his  favor.  Ben 
Phillips  was  brought  up  under  a  peculiar  environment.  It  was 
not  given  to  him  to  be  raised  in  the  most  refined  way,  for  his  was 


132  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

always  the  life  of  the  pioneer,  among  the  miners  and  the  cowboys, 
whose  ideas  would  not  reflect  credit  upon  those  of  the  people  of 
today.  Now,  do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  am  not  going  to  say 
that  those  old-time  fellows  were  bad,  or  that  they  were  not  just 
as  good  and,  maybe,  better,  than  the  majority  of  the  people  of 
today.  To  them  their  code  was  good,  for  the  reason  that  there 
were  nowhere  near  as  many  laws  or  fads  as  now.  They  lived 
close  to  nature  and  did  many  things  that,  at  this  time,  would  put 
men  in  jail,  or  the  penitentiary,  or  keep  one  fined  to  such  an 
extent  that  one  would  be  continually  broke.  If  the  writer  were 
to  stop  right  here,  one  would  say  that  those  old  fellows,  who 
were  brave  and  hardy  enough  to  break  the  trail  into  this  new 
country,  subdue  the  savages,  drive  out  the  wild  beasts,  and  con- 
quer adverse  conditions,  were  a  mighty  hard  lot  who  had  been 
driven  from  their  old  haunts  by  better  men  who  simply  wanted  to 
rid  themselves  of  a  nuisance.  Such  is  not  the  case  by  any  means, 
and  the  writer,  himself,  one  of  them,  thanks  the  Giver  of  All  Good 
that  he  was  one  of  the  old  pioneers  of  this  great  state. 

It  was  not  wrong  in  those  days  to  fish  or  hunt  without  a 
license.  It  is  now.  It  was  not  wrong  to  play  poker  or  gamble 
in  those  old  days,  nor  to  pass  the  time  away,  for  the  sake  of 
change,  in  the  hurdy  house.  It  was  not  wrong  to  run  a  foot-race 
or  try  the  speed  of  the  pony  you  thought  so  much  of  and  which 
was  a  part  of  you.  It  wasn't  quite  so  bad  to  drink  in  those  old 
days,  as  men  were  not  drinking  poison,  as  their  drinks  were  not 
adulterated,  as  now. 

Men  in  those  days  did  those  things  and  broke  no  laws.  They 
were  within  their  rights  then,  but  now  they  would  be  beyond 
the  pale. 

Many  a  good  woman  danced  in  the  hurdy  house  and  raised 
boys  who  have  escaped  the  penitentiary,  and  girls  who  did  by 
no  means  become  outcasts  in  society. 

Many  a  man  who  now  fills  in,  in  life's  most  responsible  places 
were  saloon-keepers,  hurdy-house  owners,  Indian  agents  or  trad- 
ers, prize  fighters  or  gamblers,  and  their  sons  and  daughters  hold 
their  heads  just  as  high  and  occupy  just  as  honorable  positions  in 
society  as  do  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  minister  or  jurist.  To 
us,  of  today,  this  was  lax  and  certainly  not  right.  To  them,  I 
repeat,  not  wrong. 

If  the  subject  of  my  sketch  had  enjoyed  the  higher  educa- 
tion or  been  raised  in  an  exclusive  set,  he  might  have  been  honored 
for  his  brilliant  abilities  that  had  been  used  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  upbuilding  the  race  and  to  set  an  example  for  this  genera- 
tion which,  to  attain,  would  have  been  the  best  heritage  he  could 
have  left  his  children.     Phillips  became  a  power  in  old  Chou- 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  133 

teau  county  to  such  an  extent  that  he  was  elected  to  the  state 
senate.  But  Phillips  got  into  the  legislature  of  Montana  at  the 
wrong  time.  He  got  into  it  at  a  time  when  two  Gladiators  had 
cast  their  gauntlets  into  the  political  arena  and  proposed  to  gain 
their  ends,  even  if  they  debauched  the  state  and  besmeared  the 
fair  names  of  their  best  friends,  so  that  future  generations  could 
not  cleanse  them  from  the  filth. 

The  fight  of  Clark  and  Daly  made  the  one  particular  dark, 
unerasable,  blot  on  the  fair  page  of  Montana's  political  story. 
Before  their  day  men  had  fought  for  political  supremacy,  in  a 
less  contemptible  way,  and  left  no  trail  covered  with  political 
derelicts,  without  an  honorable  aim,  to  guide,  or  a  friendly  hand 
to  help  them  on  their  way.  Yes,  the  great  plains  of  the  east,  the 
mountains  and  valleys  of  the  west,  had  men  returned  to  them 
whose  names  were  covered  with  filth  and  slime  that  the  purest 
water  ever  distilled  from  the  fairy  forms  that  fall  from  heaven 
and  fold  their  arms  around  our  granite  peaks,  can  never  wash 
away. 

And  Phillips,  and  many  more,  men  even  who  had  been  raised 
by  the  fairest  mothers  and  the  most  princely  fathers,  under  the 
best  environment,  fell  when  tempted  by  these  men  who  were  just 
as  devilish  in  their  day,  and  propably  even  worse,  than  that  Devil 
who  took  his  Lord  on  the  mountain  top  and  tried  to  seduce  Him 
with  promises.  But  let  us  not  judge  these  men  who  sold  them- 
selves too  harshly,  my  reader;  you  never  had  $50,000  or  prob- 
ably $10,000  promised  you  for  your  vote,  and  if  you  have  not, 
don't  condemn  these  men  who  fell. 

Clark  and  Daly  were  equally  guilty  when  the  fair  name  of 
Montana  was  bandied  about  and  made  a  thing  of  reproach  in 
a  political  way.  It  was  a  matter  of  fancied  wrong  on  the  part  of 
Daly,  and  to  fight  fire  with  fire  that  caused  Clark  to  fight  back. 

Clark's  superior  brains  and  larger  quantities  of  money  gave 
him  the  victory,  dearly  bought  though  it  was. 

But  to  return  to  Phillips,  he  was  and  is  a  man  who  made 
a  good  neighbor  and  one  who  helped  to  upbuild  the  section  in 
which  he  lived.  It  appeared  to  me  that  he  was  kind  and  very 
generous  with  his  neighbors  in  more  ways  than  one,  and  the  fact 
that  he  was  able  to  hold  these  people  in  line  and  get  such  a  stable 
monument,  a  county,  erected  in  his  name,  proves  it. 

Many  funny  things  in  a  political  way  were  in  practice  even 
in  the  earlv  days  of  our  history.  Many  of  them  may  have  been 
fabrications,  but  they  are  more  or  less  interesting  reading  at  this 
time. 

In  the  days  when  the  Honorable  Martin  Maginnis  was 
elected  delegate  to  congress  from  the  territory  of  Montana,  there 


134  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

was  a  voting  precinct  at  a  point  on  the  Missouri  river,  in  the 
southeast  portion  of  what  was  later  to  become  Blaine  county, 
known  as  Wilder's  Landing.  The  election  was  pretty  close  be- 
tween Maginnis  and  his  opponent  and  for  a  long  time  it  was  not 
known  who  was  elected.  Finally  the  returns  came  in  from 
Wilder's  Landing,  casting  some  four  hundred  and  odd  votes,  all 
for  Maginnis.  At  that  time  there  were  about  one  dozen  voters 
in  the  vicinity,  but  the  government  was  holding  near  there  four 
hundred  mules  used  in  transportation  of  supplies  from  Wilder's  to 
Fort  Assinniboine.  It  is  unknown  as  to  who  positively  cast  the 
vote  for  Maginnis  at  that  precinct,  but  it  was  generally  supposed 
that  those  four  hundred  mules,  in  sympathy  for  their  ancestor,  the 
Democratic  Donkey,  cast  a  solid  vote  for  Martin. 

It  is  also  said  that  a  great  many  amusing  things  happened  in 
politics  in  northern  Montana  before  the  days  of  the  Australian 
ballot  and  the  registration  of  voters.  One  incident  is  related  of 
a  certain  work  or  construction  crew  of  one  hundred  or  more  men 
under  the  guiding  hand  of  the  Hon.  Jerry  Flannigan,  since  of 
Butte  (he  died  in  the  Placer  hotel  during  the  meeting  of  the 
legislature  of  1917,  being  at  the  time  one  of  the  representatives 
from  Silver  Bow  county)  who  started  in  voting  at  the  first  pre- 
cinct this  side  of  the  Dakota  line  and  voted  that  day  at  every 
precinct  along  the  line  of  the  Great  Northern  from  that  point 
to  Havre,  and  including  that  place. 

This  was  the  same  Jerry  Flannigan  who  had  conducted,  for 
many  years,  a  bull  train  for  Col.  Broadwater  and  it  was  as  such 
that  he  learned  railroading.  He  was  also,  the  same  Jerry  to 
whom  Col.  Sanders,  when  handing  a  ragged  bill  to  him  for  fare, 
to  which  Jerry  objected,  said:  "If  you  don't  want  it  give  it  to 
the  company." 

It  is  said  there  was  a  time  when  even  the  best  citizens  of 
Harlem  were  susceptible  to  that  particular  thing  we  call  the  root 
of  all  evil,  as  our  friend  Mac,  who  was  running  for  senator  of 
Chouteau  county  and  having  plenty  of  money,  and  not  desirous 
of  defeat,  sent  his  henchman  and  foreman  to  our  precinct,  noted 
for  its  Republican  partisanism,  and  openly  purchased  at  ten  dol- 
lars per  vote,  all  those  who  were  willing  to  exchange  their  man- 
hood for  so  trivial  an  amount. 

We  who  now  find  ourselves  possessed  of  homes  here  on  the 
broad  plains  of  Northern  Montana,  in  the  County  of  Blaine, 
have  a  duty  to  perform  that  will  prove  our  worth  to  future  gener- 
ations. We  live  but  a  day  and  are  then  gathered  to  our  fathers, 
to  become  dust  as  they,  but  let  us  build  in  this  new  common- 
wealth, well,  so  that  no  ill  reproach  may  be  attached  to  our 
memories. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  135 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

(Tune,  Beulah  Land.) 

I've  reached  the  land  of  wind  and  heat 
Where  nothing  grows  for  man  to  eat; 
This  awful  dust  and  scorching  heat, 
In  all  the  world  is  hard  to  beat. 

Chorus : 

Oh,  Idaho  land, 

Oh,  Idaho  land, 
As  on  the  alkali  beds  I  stand, 
I  look  across  the  sage-brush  plains 
And  wonder  why  it  never  rains 
Till  Gabriel  blows  his  trumpet  sound 
And  says  the  rain  has  all  gone  'round. 

The  farmer  goes  out  to  his  corn, 
I  never  saw  him  look  so  lorn, 
He  is  amazed,  he's  almost  shocked 
To  find  the  corn  amid  the  stalk. 

Chorus:     Oh,  Idaho  land,  etc. 

The  people  here  are  all  one  race; 
Starvation  stares  us  in  the  face; 
We  do  not  live,  we  only  stay — 
We  are  too  poor  to  move  away. 


Dry  Farming. 


That  the  great  plains  of  Eastern  Montana  were  always  to 
benefit  the  stockman  was  the  idea  that  prevailed  in  the  minds  of 
the  wisest  of  those  who  had  come  in  the  early  days  to  make  their 
homes — in  what  was  then  known  as  the  "Buffalo  County" — 
later,  when  those  animals  were  driven  out,  to  become  the  home 
of  the  big  stockman;  whether  engaged  in  cattle,  horse  or  sheep, 
it  did  not  matter. 

The  extinction  of  the  buffalo  was  a  thing  that  was  accom- 
plished in  a  manner  that  was  heartrending  to  the  Indians,  but  so 
effective  that  it  only  required  a  short  time  to  so  thoroughly  efface 
them  that  where  millions  roamed  in  the  '70s,  none  were  to  be 
found  in  the  later  '80s.  General  Miles,  so  it  is  told,  had  said  that 
the  most  successful  manner  of  subduing  the  Indian  would  be  the 
complete  annihilation  of  the  immense  herds  of  buffalo  that  were 
used  by  them  both  as  food  and  a  medium  of  exchange,  as  the 


136  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

hide  had  become  valuable  or  was  valuable  as  a  unit  well  known 
to  both  white  and  Red.  (Their  extinction  will  be  told  in  its 
proper  place.) 

By  whom  dry  farming  was  first  attempted  in  Montana  I 
do  not  know.  I  would  like  very  much  to  give  credit  to  that 
person  who  began  something  which  has  since  made  many  homes 
for  those  who  have  been  willing  to  try  to  subdue  the  dry  lands 
on  the  great  prairies  of  our  state,  as  well  as  the  hills  and  bench 
lands  above  the  ditch. 

The  fact  is  that  "Dry  Farming"  is  simply  a  term  which  is 
used  in  contra-distinction  to  irrigation.  The  modes  of  farming 
are  as  different — in  a  way — as  the  individual  farmer  wishes.  It 
is  true  that  the  conservation  of  the  moisture  can  be  done  by  using 
a  certain  formula  that  has  been,  and  is  being  taught  by  the  scien- 
tific or  "book  farmer"  which  simply  means  one  who  is  observant 
enough  to  note  conditions  and  what  produces  them,  with  the 
faculty  of  reducing  them  to  writing  so  that  some  one  else  can  have 
the  advantage  of  his  knowledge,  which  is  the  result  of  observation. 

The  writer  has  been  in  Montana  for  over  fifty  years  and  has 
seen  all  the  changes  take  place  that  have  changed  the  buffalo 
pastures  into  fruitful  fields,  the  benches  and  hills  into  farms  and 
orchards  and  that  leads  one  to  believe  that  the  great  state  of 
Montana  is  even  now  in  its  swaddling  clothes. 

In  1909  he  was  working  for  the  state  as  an  agent  in  the 
department  of  the  State  Lands.  This  gave  him  an  opportunity 
to  go  over  much  of  the  country,  as  a  part  of  his  duty  was  to 
appraise  for  the  sale  and  lease. 

(While  working  in  this  capacity  he  feels  particularly  proud 
of  certain  work  which  was  accomplished  through  him  and  which, 
were  it  not  for  a  matter  of  history,  he  would  not  relate.  He  saw 
that  the  school  lands  of  the  state  were  being  used  by  some,  not 
alone  for  grazing,  but  for  agriculture  as  well.  He  could  not 
believe  that  this  was  looked  at  in  the  correct  light  by  the  men  in 
charge  of  the  land  office,  and  so  told  them.  This  was  a  matter 
which  was  something  new  to  them  and  was  not  looked  upon 
kindly  by  those  who  were  over  him.  He  went  to  the  Governor, 
Edwin  L.  Norris,  and  gave  him  an  explanation  of  his  idea  and 
wishes,  and  the  Governor,  ever-ready  to  secure  the  best  results  for 
the  people  of  Montana,  called  the  Board  of  Land  Commissioners 
together  at  once  and  a  resolution  was  passed  at  that  meeting  mak- 
ing a  grazing  and  also  an  agricultural  price  which  should  be  paid 
by  the  lessee.  This  resolution  which  the  state  board  passed  at 
that  meeting  has  made,  so  Joseph  Oker  said,  "Hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  dollars  for  the  school  fund.") 

The  writer  feels  that  he  has  been  well  repaid  for  the  thought 
that  came  to  him,  as  the  results  have  been  so  beneficial  to  the 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  137 

state  at  large.  He  could  see  no  reason  why  any  one  should  extract 
the  substance  from  the  soil  of  land  owned  by  the  state  without 
paying  for  it. 

He  admits  that  though  he  had  seen  many  fine  crops  taken 
from  the  land  above  the  ditch  in  the  Gallatin  valley,  he  was  not 
wide-awake  enough  to  see  the  possibilities  and  probabilities  of 
the  Great  Plains  to  the  east. 

There  was  a  reason  why  the  hills  and  bench  lands  of  the 
inter- mountain  section  might  produce  crops  above  the  ditch,  as 
the  conformation  of  the  mountain  ranges  caused  more  precipita- 
tion than  was  known  to  exist  on  the  lands  far  removed  from  such 
influences. 

He  had  seen  the  accounts  of  the  experiences  of  the  Hon. 
Paris  Gibson,  of  Great  Falls,  who  had  claimed  that  there  was 
no  such  thing  as  desert  land  in  Montana,  and  that  one  could  make 
a  success  by  using  the  methods  that  had  been  advanced  by  the 
book-farmer. 

He  had  also  seen  articles  by  Professor  Campbell,  who  had 
been  compelled  to  stick  with  his  claim  in  South  Dakota  because 
he  was  to  poor  to  leave. 

He  had  met  Professor  Linfield,  of  the  Montana  Agricul- 
tural College,  at  Bozeman,  and  listened — as  he  had  too  many 
others — without  heeding  the  advice  of  this  man  who  had  given 
up  his  life  to  agricultural  pursuits,  believing,  but  never  positively 
asserting  that  he  knew,  that  the  arid  lands  would  prove  his  pre- 
delictions,  and  make  homes  for  thousands  of  hardy  pioneers  who 
would  try  out  the  experiments  of  the  Scientific  Farmer. 

The  writer  was  in  Bozeman  and  the  Professor  asked  him 
if  he  intended  to  attend  the  Dry  Farming  Congress  which  was 
to  convene  at  Billings  the  coming  fall.  As  he  was  working  for 
the  state  he  could  hardly  see  how  he  could  quit  his  work  for  a 
week  and  put  the  state  to  the  expense  of  a  visit  of  that  nature, 
when  he  did  not  really  believe  that  the  state  would  receive  any 
benefit  in  dollars  and  cents. 

He  thus  explained  the  matter  to  the  Professor,  who  came 
back:  "Noyes,  you  go  to  Billings  and  attend  that  meeting  and 
you  will  have  learned  enough  so  that  for  every  dollar  you  will 
spend  the  state  will  be  reimbursed  to  such  an  extent  that  you  will 
be  glad  you  went,  and  that  you  took  my  advice.  It  is  needless 
to  say  that  I  accepted  the  gentleman's  advice  and  never  missed 
one  of  the  talks,  morning  or  evening,  during  the  whole  meeting. 

Men  were  there  from  all  over  the  known  world.  I  listened 
to  them  with  wrapt  attention,  when  they  told  how  things  could 
be  done  that  would  open  the  eyes  of  those  who  did  not  want 
to  see. 


138  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

I  saw  the  results  of  their  labors  in  the  many  beautiful  displays 
of  grains,  vegetables  and  fruits — all  raised  on  land  above  the 
ditch,  and  some  of  them  where  drinking  water  was  at  a  premium. 

I  met  many  of  these  men.  Among  others,  I  met  one  who 
had  at  one  time  been  in  my  employ,  working  in  the  dairy  or  at 
any  kind  of  labor  that  a  ranch  required.  He  was  at  that  time 
in  the  employ  of  the  government  as  an  expert,  to  become  later 
the  Dean  of  the  Agricultural  College  of  the  state  of  Kansas, 
and  one  of  the  leading  agronomists  in  the  world,  William  Jardine. 

Professor  Linfield  was  right,  the  author  had  learned  a 
lesson  and  put  at  once  into  practice  the  information  that  had 
come  to  him,  by  placing  a  higher  value  on  the  lands  susceptible 
to  agriculture. 

He  recalls  one  piece  of  land,  not  far  from  Manhattan  in  the 
Gallatin  valley,  on  which  he  placed  a  value  of  $22.50  per  acre 
and  which  was  thought  by  the  boys  in  the  land  office  too  high — 
in  fact  so  high  that  a  re-appraisement  must  needs  be  made  before 
the  state  could  realize  on  it.  The  same  fall  that  land  was  sold 
at  Bozeman  for  $51.50  an  acre. 

How  the  Writer  Learned  of  the  Land  on  the  Milk 
River  or  Northern  Montana. 

In  one  of  his  trips  to  the  Northern  part  of  the  state  he  had 
stopped  at  Harlem  to  look  over  some  land,  from  which  place  he 
was  to  go  as  far  as  Coburg  and  Saco.  On  the  train  from  Harlem 
to  Coburg  was  a  pioneer  plainsman,  John  Forgy,  who  told  him 
of  a  section  of  country  to  the  north  and  just  south  of  and  border- 
ing on  the  Canadian  line,  which  was  noted  for  its  fine  soil  and 
excellent  water.  He  also  said  that  some  of  the  people  in  Harlem, 
with  J.  J.  Hill  and  the  Agricultural  College  of  Montana  had 
begun  to  experiment  along  agricultural  lines.  While  the  writer 
listened  attentively  to  the  gentleman  he  could  see  no  reason  why 
he  should  at  any  time  take  advantage  of  the  information.  The 
one  thing  that  impressed  him  the  most  favorably  was  the  good 
water,  as  that  was  an  unknown  quantity  along  the  bottom  lands 
of  the  Milk  river  valley. 

After  attending  the  Congress  he  explained  to  his  wife — who 
had  always  been  willing  to  follow  his  fortunes  (as  The  Story  of 
Ajax  will  prove)  that  he  thought  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  look 
into  the  section  of  country  concerning  which  Forgy  had  told  him 
earlier  in  the  season,  and  that  probably  they  might  repair  their 
broken  fortunes  by  taking  up  a  piece  of  land  and  by  using  some 
of  the  knowledge  that  he  had  absorbed  by  listening  to  the  men 
who  had  succeeded  along  the  lines  which  he  now  contemplated. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  139 

Not  caring  to  go  at  this  matter  blindly,  he  went  to  see  Pro- 
fessors Linfield  and  Nelson,  two  of  the  men  under  whom  the 
work  had  taken  place  at  the  experiment  farm  north  of  Harlem — 
and  sought  their  advice,  as  well  as  what  knowledge  they  had 
secured  through  their  work  and  observation. 

Both  of  these  gentlemen  spoke  in  glowing  terms  of  that  par- 
ticular section  of  the  state;  told  what  they  thought  of  its  future 
and  explained  what  had  been  done,  handing  a  pamphlet  that  gave 
a  description  in  concise  language.  They  thought  that  they  knew 
of  no  particular  place — then  to  be  had — that  would  prove  better 
adapted  to  what  one  wanted — the  making  of  a  home  on  the 
prairie. 

The  writer  also  sought  information  from  Senator  Thomas  M. 
Everett,  of  Harlem,  a  man  who  had  made  a  success  as  a  ranch- 
man on  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Milk  river  under  irrigation,  and 
who  had  been  instrumental  in  having  the  experimental  station 
started  to  see  if  it  could  not  be  demonstrated  that  the  land  was 
more  valuable  for  agriculture  than  it  was  for  grazing. 

The  senator  replied  to  his  letter,  giving  him  the  results  of 
what  had  been  done  and  saying  that  the  year  just  passed  ( 1909) 
the  grain,  especially  oats,  had  produced  over  one  hundred  bushels 
per  acre  and  that  everything  else  that  had  been  put  in  the  ground 
that  year  had  done  so  well  that  many  people  had  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  no  longer  was  the  raising  of  crops,  in  that  section, 
problematical,  but  an  assured  fact,  and  they  were  beginning  to 
homestead  the  lands  that  were  near  the  'farm.'  This  letter  was 
not  one  that  was  misleading  in  any  way,  just  a  good,  common 
sense  communication  to  one  who  wished  for  facts,  so  far  as  the 
facts  could  be  known. 

The  writer  came  to  the  conclusion  to  go  and  make  a  personal 
investigation.  He  also  thought  it  would  be  a  wise  idea  to  go  east 
with  an  illustrated  lecture  on  dry  lands  of  Montana  and  try  to 
secure  emigrants  whom  he  thought  were  coming  to  the  state. 

On  the  second  day  of  February,  1910,  he  got  a  team,  and 
with  Hans  Twete,  who  had  taken  land  near  the  experiment  sta- 
tion, as  driver  and  guide,  went  to  look  over  the  country. 

While  several  had  located  that  fall  there  was  only  one  house 
occupied  and  that  was  by  Bob  Gorsuch  and  brother.  A  young 
Dane  who  was  building  a  shack  three  or  four  miles  east,  was 
staying  with  the  Gorsuchs  that  winter.  We  accepted  the  hos- 
pitality of  Bob,  who  had  seen  the  experimental  farm  while  the 
grain  was  being  harvested  the  fall  before,  and  concerning  which 
they  gave  such  glowing  accounts.  (Bob  never  stayed  long  enough 
to  prove  up  as  the  hot  and  dry  seasons  so  completely  discouraged 
him  that  he  sold  his  claim  for  a  small  amount  and  quit.) 


140  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

Here  was  a  new  world  to  conquer  and  to  one  used  to  the 
life  of  a  pioneer  there  could  be  no  great  hardships  to  encounter 
that  would  deter  any  one  with  nerve.  We  returned  to  Harlem 
the  next  day  well  satisfied  with  what  we  had  seen  and  learned. 

To  go  east  and  secure  many  emigrants  who  would  be  willing 
to  pay  for  the  correct  information  as  to  a  good  location  was 
thought  to  be  an  easy  thing.  I  must  admit  that  the  attempt  was 
made  without  any  good  results  and  a  return  to  Montana  was 
considered  the  best  thing  to  be  done,  if  we  wanted  to  get  a  claim 
for  ourselves,  as  we  found  that  J  J.  Hill  and  the  big  railroad 
interests  of  the  country  were  doing  all  they  could  to  see  that  the 
free  homesteads  of  Montana  should  be  taken  up,  as  they  could 
see  that  they  could  derive  some  benefit,  at  least  while  the  opera- 
tion was  taking  place.  Then,  too,  Hill  had  seen  the  Dakotas 
build  up  and  thrive. 

The  writer  and  his  son  (Raymond)  hurried  back  to  Harlem. 
When  we  arrived  there  we  found  that  almost  every  man,  woman 
and  child  had  become  obsessed  with  a  wish  to  help  locate  the 
"Scissorbills"  and  secure  a  little  of  the  money  they  were  bringing 
into  the  country — get  it  while  they  could,  as  too  many  of  them 
had  no  hope  that  these  people  would  succeed  in  making  a  per- 
manent home  for  themselves. 

The  truth  is,  the  stockmen  had  seen  the  hot  sun  burn  the  grass 
to  a  crisp  or  had  seen  the  seasons  when  no  grass  had  grown  at 
all  for  lack  of  moisture.  Then  some,  who  had  stock,  thought  that 
the  Dry  Farmer  would  secure  their  pasture  and,  while  they  could 
not  make  a  living  themselves  they  would  drive  the  stockman  from 
his  rightful  possession,  as  the  buffalo  hunter  had  driven  the  Indians 
from  their  hunting  grounds,  as  they  had  left  nothing  to  hunt. 

The  scramble  for  land  was  on.  Any  one  who  had  come  to 
the  Northwest  through  the  gateway  of  St.  Paul  could  not  help 
but  see  the  splendid  display  that  had  been  gotten  together  by  the 
Great  Northern  Railroad  company.  One  could  hardly  believe 
that  Montana  could  produce  such  a  variety  of  products  that  were 
there  assembled.  Such  profusion;  such  quality  and  quantity.  It 
was  truly  enough  to  make  the  homeless  man  turn  his  pockets  to 
see  if  he  could  find  enough  to  take  advantage  of  the  low  (?) 
cost  of  homesteading. 

Of  course  Hill's  men  and  Hill  himself  did  not  say  that  all 
people  could  and  would  make  a  success,  but  the  door  of  oppor- 
tunity was  standing  ajar  and  to  him  who  would  push  it  open 
and  delve  deeply  and  wisely  among  the  treasures  there  assembled 
would  surely  find  some  gem  of  great  value. 

So  they  came,  men  and  women,  from  all  over  the  middle  and 
eastern  states  to  take  advantage  of  the  chance  thrown  out  to  them. 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  141 

In  those  days  when  we  were  trying  to  settle  the  lands  on  the 
big  prairies  we  had  all  kinds  of  discouragements  in  the  advice 
given  by  those  who  did  not,  for  several  reasons,  wish  us  to  stay. 
The  writer  recalls  that  one  morning  he  came  from  his  room  and 
listened  to  the  impassioned  speech  that  a  gentleman  was  making 
concerning  the  influx  of  settlers.  He  said,  among  other  things: 
"Any  man  who  has  no  more  principle  than  to  locate  men  on  these 
plains  in  northern  and  eastern  Montana,  where  the  drouth  and 
hot  winds  will  surely  sap  the  strength  from  every  plant  that  they 
attempt  to  grow  should  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  he  is  dead. 
No  greater  crime  could  be  committed  than  the  one  now  being 
carried  into  effect.  These  people  will  come  here,  led  by  false 
representation,  and  when  they  have  tried  and  failed  they  will  be 
broke,  paupers,  on  the  hands  of  those  who  can  ill  afford  to 
assume  such  a  responsibility.  Why,  I  will  agree  to  haul  with  one 
four-horse  team,  and  at  one  time,  all  that  they  can  ever  raise." 
I  have  never  doubted  but  what  that  man,  at  the  time  he  was 
making  that  talk,  believed  what  he  said,  and  actually  thought 
he  was  telling  the  truth. 

I  listened  to  him  for  some  time  and  then  told  him  he  sounded 
to  me  much  like  a  stockman  who  wished  that  what  he  was  saying 
would  come  true.  That  he  had  personal  reasons  for  saying  what 
he  did  in  order  to  keep  people  from  taking  up  the  range.  I  told 
him  that  he  surely  did  not  know  what  he  was  talking  about,  but 
that  he  was  not  to  blame  for  that  as  many  of  us  in  Montana 
had  thought  as  he  had,  but  that  we  were  not  yet  enlightened  to 
the  fullest  concerning  the  possibilities  of  the  country.  I  admitted 
that  up  until  a  very  short  time  before  I  had  thought  and  talked 
as  he  had,  but  that  we  must  face  the  issues  as  they  were  pre- 
sented to  us,  and  one  of  them  would  be  the  taking  up  of  all  the 
land  thai  was  at  all  susceptible  to  agriculture.  I  told  him  what  I 
had  seen  at  Billings  and  left  him  completely  silent  with  a  parting 
shot  to  "atop  and  think." 

Before  going  on  to  give  some  of  the  actual  experiences  that 
took  place  under  my  observation,  concerning  the  farming  of  dry 
land  in  Blaine  county,  I  wish  to  give  credit  to  those  men  who 
first  thought  there  was  some  possibility  of  making  the  land,  if 
rightly  farmed,  produce  enough  for  a  livelihood. 

The  First  Dry  Experiment  Station. 

Dry  farming  in  an  experimental  way  was  begun  in  1 905  to 
determine  the  feasibility  of  raising  crops  without  irrigation  in  what 
is  now  Blaine  county.  This  was  the  first  experiment  station  in 
Montana.  This  station  was  financed  by  a  few  of  the  business 
men  of  Harlem — Charles  A.  Smith,  Charles  H.  Barton,  Henry 


M2  IN   THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

C.  Turner  and  Thomas  M.  Everett,  with  a  few  small  contribu- 
tions from  some  of  the  other  citizens. 

The  first  year's  crop  was  sown  on  the  sod  and  was  only  a 
partial  success.  About  ten  to  fifteen  acres  were  put  in  in  wheat, 
oats,  barley  and  flax. 

The  following  year  the  same  parties,  in  connection  with  the 
State  Agricultural  college  and  the  Great  Northen  railroad, 
selected  a  section  of  land  near  the  place  we  had  used  and  which 
Congress  set  aside  for  ten  years  for  experimental  purposes.  Dry 
land  farming  was  carried  on  upon  about  1 00  to  1 60  acres  of  land 
for  five  or  six  years,  with  a  yield  that  demonstrated  beyond  a 
doubt  that  dry-land  farming,  if  carried  on  scientifically,  would 
produce  a  good  yield,  at  least  every  other  year,  with  summer 
fallow.  The  crops  averaged,  during  that  time,  from  fifteen  to 
forty  bushels  of  wheat;  twenty  to  one  hundred  bushels  of  oats; 
eighteen  to  forty-five  bushels  of  barley,  and  ten  to  eighteen  bush- 
els of  flax  per  acre.  Corn  and  garden  stuff  were  grown  in  the 
same  way. 

This  work  was  carried  on  until  the  cultivation  of  dry  farms 
was  general  and  it  was  no  longer  necessary  to  carry  on  the  farm. 

All  the  first  settlers  who  came  into  the  country  seemed  to  be 
of  the  opinion  that  the  land  in  the  immediate  vicinity  were  the 
only  lands  that  could  be  successfully  cultivated,  so  they  were  the 
first  taken  up.  (We  have  to  thank  the  Hon.  T.  M.  Everett  for 
the  above  information.) 

To  resume  our  narrative:  We  find  that  the  spring  of  1909 
many  settlers  came  to  locate  the  dry  lands  in  what  was  soon  to 
become  Blaine  county. 

The  spring  was  early  and  the  month  of  March  was  dry  and 
hot  with  not  a  vestige  of  moisture. 

Of  course  there  was  a  possibility  that  there  would  be  plenty 
of  rain  in  the  growing  season  and  a  few  people  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  would  put  in  a  few  acres. 

The  writer  had  no  idea  from  any  thing  of  a  practical  nature 
what  farming  meant. 

It  was  at  last  agreed  upon,  by  others  of  his  party,  that  he 
was  to  go  to  the  west  and  get  some  horses,  machinery,  etc.,  and 
put  in  as  large  an  acreage  as  possible.  He  returned  with  six 
head  of  horses  and  the  breaking  of  the  sod  began.  It  was  too 
soon  demonstrated  that  there  was  too  little  moisture  to  allow  one 
to  plow.  Our  first  breaking  consisted  of  about  two  acres.  This 
land  was  planted  with  potatoes  which  cost  $1.75  per  sack  at 
the  railroad,  which  was  30  miles  away.  It  took  eight  sacks  to  put 
in  what  we  considered  the  proper  amount. 

After  the  seed  was  in,  all  we  could  do  was  to  wait  for  the 
heavenly  sprinkling  cart  to  come  along  and  with  its  aid,  and  the 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  143 

revivifying  rays  of  the  summer  sun,  cause  those  tubers  to  spring 
into  life,  producing  something  which  would  be  a  thing  to  eat, 
if  not  "A  thing  of  beauty." 

While  we  were  waiting  for  the  water  wagon  to  come  along 
and  do  its  part  we  began  to  have  our  day  dreams.  We  could 
imagine  the  many  fine  things  we  could  buy  when  we  had  har- 
vested the  crop  (?)  If  we  could  get  much  of  a  yield  and  the 
price  was  as  good  as  in  the  fall  as  it  was  when  we  bought  the  seed 
we  could  take  a  trip  to  California  or  some  other  place  where  we 
could  be  far  removed  from  the  rigors  of  an  almost  Arctic  clime. 
In  fact  we  spent  that  money  in  many  ways,  in  our  minds  (and 
that  is  the  only  way  we  ever  had  to  spend  it)  while  we  were 
waiting  for  the  rain. 

That  season  there  must  have  been  a  great  big  umbrella  or  a 
mammoth  Zeppelin  hanging  over  our  northlands,  as  no  moisture 
fell.  We  had  seen  some  place  that  the  rain  falls  on  the  just  and 
the  unjust.  We  couldn't  have  been  either  one  or  the  other  as 
no  moisture  fell  in  quantities  sufficient  to  cause  the  spuds  to  get  up 
a  sweat. 

The  hot  sun  came  and  the  waves,  of  hot  air,  as  they  rolled 
in  billows  over  the  parched  fields  left  no  moisture,  for  a  time  long 
enough,  to  bring  to  life  any  of  the  seeds  that  many  a  time,  under 
more  auspicious  conditions,  must  have  dotted  those  vast  plains. 

No  flower  sprang  into  existence  to  entice  the  bee  with  its 
fragrance,  and  not  a  bird  warbled  its  sweet  song  to  break  the 
awful  stillness  that  surrounded  the  "shack"  on  the  thirsty  prairie 
we  had  selected  for  home  (  ?) . 

No  blast  that  ever  blew  across  the  seething  flames  of  Hades 
could  have  more  thoroughly  withered  the  small  blades  of  grass, 
as  they  tried  to  lift  their  heads  from  mother  earth,  than  did  those 
hot  winds  that  came  from  a  h ,  of  a  self-made  nature. 

Prairie  fires  caught  in  the  grass  of  a  year  that  was  dead — and 
in  the  month  of  June — when  all  the  land  should  have  had  a 
carpet  of  green  with  clusters  of  flowers  to  beautify  the  scene, 
swept  every  vestige  from  the  soil  and  left  it  a  black,  bleak  space. 

Our  potatoes?  Why,  they  would  not  grow.  They,  many 
of  them,  even  refused  to  sprout  and  were  dug,  later,  and  eaten 
after  they  had  remained  in  the  ground  all  summer.  Other  people 
did  not  fare  any  better  than  we  did.  It  was  surely  a  year  to 
be  remembered. 

The  experimental  farm  was  worked  and  while  it  did  not 
produce  a  large  crop  it  did,  however,  produce  something  and  was 
not  a  complete  failure. 

This  was  proof  of  what  the  Professors  had  said:  "Conserve 
your  moisture  and  you  will  be  sure  to  have  some  kind  of  a  crop." 


144  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

The  writer  and  his  wife  left  this  uncongenial  section  to  secure 
work  in  a  more  favorable  field  so  that  the  younger  ones  of  the 
family  might  remain  and  hold  down  their  claims. 

No  hay  had  grown  and  the  only  means  of  keeping  their 
horses  during  the  coming  winter  would  be  either  to  cut  the  dead 
grass  or  haul  hay  from  the  Milk  River  valley,  thirty  miles  away, 
and  pay  a  high  price  for  it.  It  was  thought  wise  to  cut  the  dry 
hay,  but  it  proved  any  thing  but  a  success.  The  horses  were 
allowed  to  go  to  the  range  each  day  and  in  that  way  they  were 
brought  through,  though  they  were  in  very  poor  shape  to  do 
much  work  the  next  spring. 

The  spring  of  1911  found  us  with  fifty  to  sixty  acres  of  land 
ready  for  seeding,  as  there  had  been  a  little  moisture  during  the 
winter. 

As  flax  had  been  high  the  year  before  we  came  to  the  con- 
clusion to  put  in  at  least  fifty  acres  into  that  seed  and  try  a 
few  acres  of  wheat  and  oats.  The  flax,  for  seeding,  had  cost  us, 
laid  down  on  the  farm,  four  dollars  per  bushel.  With  the  mois- 
ture we  had  that  spring  and  the  persuasive  heat  of  the  sun's  rays 
properly  applied  that  fifty-acre  tract  looked  like  the  blue  waters 
of  some  wonderful  lake,  or  a  garden  of  flowers,  that  was  soon  to 
produce  wealth  in  the  myriad  bolls  that  were  to  take  their  place. 

The  boys  could  see  success  every  time  they  looked  upon  that 
smiling  field  and  our  neighbors,  with  more  experience  than  we, 
congratulated  us  on  a  crop  that  would  produce  1000  bushels. 
But,  alas,  for  our  dreams  and  speculations,  they  were  to  be  nipped 
in  the  bud,  as  the  hot  sun  tempered  the  wind  to  "sear"  the  flax, 
and  instead  of  having  1000  bushels,  we  had  84! 

This  was  really  and  truly  a  disappointment,  that  to  be  appre- 
ciated to  the  fullest  extent,  must  have  been  felt  to  be  thoroughly 
understood. 

Mother  and  myself,  with  two  of  the  young  people,  would 
leave  the  farm  for  the  winter,  thus  placing  the  care  of  the  stock 
in  the  hands  of  one  who  would  be  able  to  care  for  it;  as  it  would 
be  much  more  economical  than  to  try  and  haul  our  wood  as  the 
boys  had  done  the  year  before,  thirty  miles. 

We  had  the  flax  seed  for  several  acres  of  ground  for  the 
next  year's  seeding.  We  did  succeed  in  getting  several  acres  of 
new  ground  ready.  We  put  the  ground  we  had  had  the  year 
before  into  flax  into  oats.  We  sowed  a  few  acres  of  wheat  but 
put  most  of  our  new  land  into  flax.  That  year  (1912)  proved 
that  nature  could  smile  on  the  dry  plains  if  she  wanted  to. 

The  birds  came  back  and  once  in  a  while  a  bee  could  be  seen 
flying  among  the  flowers!  Yes,  flowers!  Many  beautiful  bloom- 
ing plants  came  to  beautify  the  scene  and  their  delicate  perfume 
filled  the  senses  with  pleasant  memories.     Every  one  who  had 


THE  STORY  OF  BLAINE  COUNTY  145 

been  fortunate  enough  to  have  land  prepared  had  his  hope,  in  a 
final  success,  renewed.     It  was  a  bumper  crop. 

How  strange  it  is  we  do  not  have  all  our  hopes  fulfilled.  It 
must  be  that  being  human — and  full  of  mistakes — our  desires  are 
not  wise  ones,  or  thev  would  culminate  more  often  in  pleasure. 

So  far  as  we  were  concerned  (I  mean  all  the  new  comers 
when  I  use  the  word  we)  the  desires  were  by  no  means  of  a 
selfish  nature.  We  had  come  to  a  new  country  with  limited  means, 
which  had  been  too  soon  dissipated  through,  to  me,  the  malicious 
action  of  Nature  itself. 

We  had  tried  to  produce  our  bread  "By  the  sweat  of  our 
brow,"  and  completely  failed.  The  land  had  been  prepared  as 
well  as  we  knew  how,  the  seed  had  been  sown  and  cultivation 
had  been  given,  but  Nature  smiled  in  derision  on  every  effort  of 
puny  man  and  withheld  her  assistance,  without  which  man  can 
accomplish  no  more  than  can  the  most  microscopic  specimen  known 
to  the  scientist. 

But  this  vear  nature  smiled  on  all  our  work  and  the  pro- 
duction was  lavish  throughout  the  whole  world.  As  has  been 
mentioned,  we  paid  high  prices  for  seed  two  year?  before,  but 
when  the  bumper  crop  was  ready  for  market  the  price  had  become 
so  low — 104  for  flax,  15  cents  for  oats  and  sixty  cents  for  wheat, 
that  no  one  under  those  circumstances  could  make  both  ends  meet. 

This  made  the  third  season  on  our  dry  farm,  two  of  which 
were  complete  failures,  that  would  have  made  us  objects  of 
charity  (as  it  did  some  others)  if  we  had  not  had  other  means 
of  support,  and  one  fat  one  that  did  not  much  more  than  return 
the  cost  of  production  after  the  haul  of  thirty  miles  to  the  railroad 
had  been  made.  Surelv  not  much  encouragement  to  one  who 
had  expected  better  results. 

People  began  to  feel  discouraged  and  look  forward  to  the 
time  when  it  would  be  possible  to  get  a  title  to  something  that 
appeared  almost  worthless- — so  they  could  go  to  some  other  place 
where  there  was  a  poscibility  of  netting  a  sure  return  for  their 
labor  and  capital.  Others,  who  had  been  wiser  and  had  fol- 
lowed the  advice  of  the  "Book  farmer"  (to  summer  fallow)  had 
been  more  successful  than  those  who  had  gone  on  heedless  of  the 
wisdom  of  the  careful  experimenter. 

Man.  himself,  is  not  more  erratic  than  nature.  If  there  is  any- 
thing in  hereditv  man  should  be  excused  in  the  final  reckoning 
for  all  his  peculiarities  of  temperament  and  activities  because  his 
mother,  nature,  has  treated  him  with  more  incivilities  and  actual 
punishment  than  could  ever  be  dreamed  of  in  the  minds  of  man. 

She  had  taught  him  to  be  selfish,  as  he  has  to  hoard  the  accum- 
ulations of  the  fat  seasons  for  the  time  which  is  sure  to  come,  the 
lean  ones.     If  it  had  taught  him  a  sense  of  proportion,  so  he  could 


146  IN  THE   LAND   OF   CHINOOK 

have  known  his  needs,  and  secreted  only  enough  to  gratify  them, 
then  he  would  not  have  developed,  to  such  an  extent  that  he  lost 
all  sight  of  the  needs  of  his  neighbors  in  his  blind  greed  for  more 
than  he  could  use,  but  which,  if  distributed,  would  have  relieved 
the  pressure  on  his  more  unfortunate  brother  and  made  his  life 
a  thing  of  pleasure  and  not  a  cause  of  remorse  and  misery.  (I 
must  admit  that  I  am  not  writing  a  work  on  moral  philosophy, 
simply  the  story  of  a  new  county  in  the  great  state  of  Montana.) 

The  dry  years  of  1910  and  1911  made  the  stockman  laugh 
with  glee.  No  longer  could  the  "Scissorbill"  possibly  stay  in  a 
section  that  had  so  wilfully  withheld  all  support. 

The  writer  heard  them  as  they  were  sitting  in  the  shade  of 
their  more  comfortable  roofs,  in  town,  say:  "Another  year  will 
get  them.  They  cannot  stay."  If  the  homesteader  moved  the 
stockman  would  be  more  than  repaid  for  the  few  years'  worry 
they  had  endured,  because  the  buildings,  wells  and  improvements 
would  be  left,  things  of  value  to  them,  but  of  no  earthly  use  to 
the  man  who  had  tried  and  failed. 

It  has  been  the  belief  of  the  writer  that  those  people  who 
came  to  the  state  in  1910-11  were  more  unfortunate — if  they  were 
compelled  to  stay  on  their  places — than  were  those  who  came 
later,  when  crops  were  actually  raised  through  their  first 
endeavors. 

The  years  1912-13-15-16  had  proven  conclusively  that  there 
was  a  possibility  of  making  a  home  on  the  dry  plains.  The  year 
1913  had  not  by  any  means  proved  one  full  of  success,  but  it 
had  not  been  a  failure.  These  years  marked  the  destruction  of 
the  range  for  range  purposes  alone.  Houses  of  more  pretention 
began  to  take  the  place  of  the  little  black  shack,  stables  displaced 
the  sod  hovel,  trees  were  planted  to  break  the  monotony  of  the 
bleak  prairie,  schools  and  churches  in  convenient  places  had  been 
erected,  and  peace  and  plenty  began  to  cause  the  smile  of  con- 
tentment to  suffuse  the  faces  of  many  that  had  begun  too  soon 
to  be  lined  with  care. 

All  the  known  land  that  had  any  agricultural  value,  was  soon 
in  the  hands  of  the  private  owner  and  began  to  take  a  money 
value,  and  was  a  thing  sought  for  by  those  who  would  not  at 
first  believe. 

We  would  like  to  write  of  some  of  those  who  have  passed 
through  the  different  stages  and  name  them,  but  if  we  should 
give  credit  where  due  to  the  men  and  women  who  have  helped 
to  make  the  county  of  homes  we  would  only  have  a  book  of  or 
a  list  of  names  and  not  conditions. 

We  have  given  only  a  few  of  our  own  experiences,  as  thou- 
sands of  people  on  the  dry  farms  had  the  same  that  we  did  and 
they  can  lay  claim  to  any  thing  in  particular  that  they  wish  to 


THE   STORY   OF   BLAINE   COUNTY  147 

take  home  to  themselves — as  all  went  through  about  the  same 
heartrending  troubles  before  they  were  successful — if  they  had 
families. 

The  young  men  or  young  women  were  more  fortunate,  as 
they  could  leave  and  find  employment  in  more  favorable  locali- 
ties. 

Some  one  will  tell  the  story  of  his  or  her  life  on  the  arid 
plains  in  such  detail  that  the  tears  will  flow  down  the  cheeks  of 
the  sympathetic  and  the  heart  will  throb  in  unison  with  him 
who  was  brave  enough  to  stay  and  win  success  through  hard  and 
self-sacrificing  endeavor. 

That  success  has  been  won  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  all  the 
land  was  taken  up  in  a  few  years  and  that  elevators  that  once 
had  not  a  bushel  of  grain,  were  full  to  bursting,  and  that  instead 
of  one  or  two  in  a  county,  dozens  were  needed ;  that  banks,  stores, 
churches  and  schools  were  multiplied  in  sections  that  only  a  few 
years  ago  was  the  home  for  a  few  stockmen  whose  cowboys  and 
sheep  herders  "Were  monarch  of  all  they  surveyed." 


148  INDEX 


INDEX 


Page. 
OnAPTEB    I. 

The   First    Inn,    Etc ; 7 

Chapter  II. 

Squawmen    15 

Chapter  III. 

Buffalo  and  Their  Hunters 20 

Chapter  IV. 

First    Settlement   of   Whites 23 

Chapter  V. 

Prospecting   and    Mining 32 

Chapter  VI. 

The  Church  in  Blaine  County 37 

Chapter  VII. 

Cowboy  Days  44 

Chapter   VIII. 

Sheep  Days   57 

Chapter  IX. 

The    Last    Stand 01 

Chapter  X. 

Stories    of    Plainsmen 81 

Billy    Cochran 81 

Wm.   Bent 88 

Joseph   Mosser 99 

George    Herendeen 105 

James  H.   Snell 112 

Daddy   Marsh,   Curry   Story 115 

Chapter  XI. 

Charles  M.  Russell 119 

Chapter  XII. 

Topography   of   County 12G 

Chapter  XIII. 

Political   History   of   Blaine    County 127 

Chapter  XIV. 

Dry    Farming L35 


INDEX 


14!) 


Page. 

Aiken,   Gene 61 

Alexis    21 

Aldrich,    Frank .32-33-35-36 

Anderson,    Bill 90-92 

Anderson,    Reese 35 

Angstman     31 

Aratpahoes    7-8 

Arnoux,  J.  M 35 

Armstrong,    Adam 24-83-85 

Armstrong,   R.  A 43 

Arnett,    Frank 49 

Ashby,  Col.   Shirley 119 

Assinniboines    S 


Baird,  Capt 96 

Baird    43 

Ballou   27 

Bartzen    28 

Barton,   Chas.   H 28-31-129-134 

Barrows,    Gep 52-3 

Bean,    Jack 111-112 

Bent,   Col 88 

Bent.  Bill  13-14-32-48-88-9-99 

Beilenberg,   John  46 

Beilenberg,   Nick   50-58 

Bevins,    Bill 82 

Blackstone,    Donald   L 130 

Blackfeet  7 

Blivens,   Taylor 195 

Bogy,    V 22-27-28-37 

Bogy,  Tom 101-2 

Boll,   Father 40 

Boone,  Dan'l 99 

Bosley,   Preston    M 130 

Bostwick   Ill 

Bourne,   George 128 

Bower,   Bertha  M 121 

Boyle,    Frank 28 

Boyd,    Geo 82-3-98-21 

Brampar,    Louie 82 

Brewster,   Horace  49 

Brewer,  James 99 

Brewer,   Rev 43 

Brisban,     Major 107-8 

Brisbeau    22 

Broadwater,  Col 134 

Brown,  Jack 82-3 

Bryan,    W.    J 68 

Buchanan,    Buck... Ill 

Buckley,    Sheriff in; 

Buckley.    .Mike 31 

Buckley,    Phil 30 

Buffalo    Bill 21 

Burnes,  T.  C 25-20 

Butler,    Vernon 130 

Cabler,    John 120 

Calamity  Jane  103 

Campbell,  Prof. 137 

Campbell,   Tom 94 


Page. 

Campbell,    Jim 92 

Canby,    General 65 

Captain  John 96 

Carson,    Kit 88 

Carter,  Captain 78 

Carver,  Steven 29 

Cecil,    Al 29-30 

Chapman,  Arthur 96-7 

Chinook,  Who  Named 27 

Chrisler,   Rev 43 

Claggett,  Billy 101 

Clark  and  Daly 133 

Clendenning,   Geo 100-104 

Cleveland,  President 38 

Coburn,    Robert 130 

Coburn,  Bob 49 

Coburn,   Wallace 5 

Cochran,   John 82 

Cochran,  Billy 24-58-9O-1O0' 

Collins,   John 130 

Conklin,    Charlie   82-90 

Conrad,    Chas.    C 30 

Cowan,    Geo 27 

Cowan,    Minn 59 

Cowan,   Scott 59 

Cowan,  Arthur,   Minn.,  Geo 60 

Cooper,   Housen   105 

Cooper,   Nancy 121 

Crain,    Tom 49 

Crawford.  Toney 123 

Crawford,    Hank 46 

Culbertson,    Major 91 

Oumni,   Lee 27 

Curry  Boys 29 

Curry,  Kid 115-116-11S-119 

Curry,  Johnnie  and  Lonnie 116 

Curry,  Hank 115-116 

Curtis,  Miss  Lizzie 28 

Custer    108 

Darwin  82 

Davis,   A.   J *6-S 

Dawes,    Station 27 

Day,    Rev 43 

"Delaware"    Jim 66 

Dempsey,   Bob 47 

Denton,    Drew 101 

Devine,    Richard S3 

De    Kind.    Father .IT 

Dc  Yon,  Joe 122 

Dillon,   John 24-83-4-6 

Dinier,   Father 40 

Dolman.    Henry    A 99 

Dorrity,   Mrs.   James 80 

Dowen,   Thos 98-130 

Dryden,  Charlie 110 

Duke,    William 28 

Dutch    Louie 29-32-3-5-<; 

I  toucan,   Willard 33 

Du   Boise,  Judge 118 

Dwyer,    Jimmie 94 


150 


INDEX 


Page. 

Eberschweiler,   Father 37-8-9-43 

Eckerson,   Lieut 77 

Edwards,  Sen.  John 51 

Ekergren,  Ernest 31 

Ellis,    Lon 31 

Emery,  Bill 86 

Eulalia,   Sister 41 

English,  Lieut 64 

Everett,   T.   M 26-9-58-128-9-139-142 

Everett,    J.    M 26 

Express,    Pony 90 

Featherly,   Senator  51 

Fenton,  Agent  91 

Field,    Major    103 

First  Laud  Plowed 7 

First  Irrigation  Ditch 26 

Flannigan,    Jerry    134 

Flynn,  Tommy  52 

Forgy,  John  138 

Fox,   James    E 26 

Fox  82 

French,  Walter  29 

$50,000   Check   25 

Gamble    49 

Gibbon,  General 8-63-70-79-107 

Gibson,    Paris   137 

Glick,  Dr 47 

Gill  118 

Giorda,  Father  37 

Goff,  Cortez  64 

Gorsuch,  Bob  139 

Grant,   General   37-41-90-102 

Grant,  John  48 

Grant,   Jesse   R 102 

Great  Northern  R.  R 25-6 

Grinell   91 

Gros   Ventres   7-8 

Grounds,  Frank  106-111 

Haddow   75 

Haley,    Tom 35 

Hale,  Captain 76-7 

Hamilton,     Bill 13-32-91-111 

Hammer,  A.  W 43 

Hanson,  Chas.  A 21 

Hardrick,   John 82 

Harlan   63-9 

Hart,  Bill 31 

Hatch,   Mr 29 

Healey,   Col 41 

Herendeen,   Geo 33-105-9 

Hill,   J.   J 138-40 

Holmes    56 

Hoover,   Jake 120 

Hopkins,  Dr.  Chas.  F 28 

Houston,  Samuel 28 

Howard,     General.-27-64-9-79-l-3-8-80 

Hubble,    Lewis 98 

Huidekoper  120 


Page. 

Jardine,    William   138 

Jerome,  Lieut 114 

Jew  Jake  117 

Johnson,  Albert  S 90 

Johnson,   Liver  Eating 90-100-101 

Johnson,   William  130 

Jones,  Dick  82 

Jones,  Bill  120-1 

Jones  J.  Dwight 130 

Joseph,    Chief   63-5-8-71-78-9-80-1- 

94-"97-114 

Josephine,   Sister  41 

Kaufman,  Louie 120 

Keiser,   Henry   84 

Kelsey  27 

Kemp,  Charlie 31 

Kendrick,    J.    B 52 

Kennedy,  E.  M 29-130 

Kennedy,    J.    M 128 

Kenyon,    Dan'l.    C 130 

Kester,   W.   C 123-4 

Keyes,  Cris  33-5 

Kinney    67 

Kingsbury  27 

Kohrs,    Con    45-6-9-50 

Kosciusco,    Dr 130 

Kuhr,  Jurgan  58 

Larpenture  12 

Landon,   Frank   52 

Landusky  32-87-8-115-6 

Leader,  Jake  14-82-100 

Leavenworth,    Col 90 

Lee,   John  29 

Lehfeldt,  Julius  38 

Lepley,  John  35 

Letcher    28 

Lewis,   Johnnie   27 

Lewis    and    Clark 61 

Lincoln,  Major  103 

Lincoln,   Mrs.   W.   L 23 

Linfield,  Prof 137-9 

Linderman,    Frank   52-121 

Lomire   and    Lee 100 

Looking  Glass  65-8-9-70 

Lohman,   A.   S 28-124-5 

Logan,   Major   29-56-92 

Logan,    Geo 42 

Logan,  Capt 64 

Lowery,  K 123 

Maginnis,  Martin   Hon 133 

Main,    Bob    35 

Mallison,  Al  123 

Maloney,  Cris  59-60 

Maney    28 

Manning,  Mrs.  John 29-31 

Marlow,   Tom    118 

Marsh,  F.  M 28-32-45-29-115-126 

Martin,   J.   A 43 


INDEX 


151 


Page. 

Martin,    Bill    82-4-5 

Matherson,  Martha  31 

Matt,    Cyprenne    24-35 

Matt,    Alex   67 

Meadors,    Senator   51 

Meldrum    92 

Merchant,    Fred    91 

Middleton,  A.  G 130 

Miles,    General    22-43-711-4-0-7-8-9-81- 

04-5-0-7-114-135 

Mills,   Rev.  Jacob 42 

Miller,  Wallis 119 

Miller,    Col 64 

Minugh,   "Daddy"   .»..:..": 32 

Montgomery   94 

Montgomery.   William    49 

Moody,  Dr 62 

Morehouse,   John   S2-87 

Mosser,   Joe  44-58-99 

Murphy,    Spud    32 

McCone,  Senator  51 

McCommick    107 

McDonald  90 

McGregor    94 

McKinzie  32 

McNamara    12S 

McQuirk    67 

Neibaur,  Isaac  130 

Nelson,    Ole    29 

Nelson,   Prof 139 

Xevins,  O.  B S2-3 

Newton.   Henry   82 

Nicholson,  1 41 

Nicholson,    Murray    95 

Norris,  G.  R 100 

Norris,   Edwin   L....  136 

Norton,  Harry  23 

Xoyes,   Raymond    140 

Oker,  Joseph   136 

Old    Nosey    92 

Olson,   B.  G 58-104 

Owens.    Clms.      29 

Owens.    Frank  53-4 

O'Hanlon,  Tom  ....27-8-30-38-44-5-103  I 

O'Neal,  Frank  28-118-124 

O'Neal,    Mrs.    Frank  ....    lis 

Paxon.  Ed  126 

Pease.   Major   107 

Pease,    Dave   24 

Pepin,    Simon  16 

Pepperberg    36 

Perkins,    Jeff      82 

Phelps.    Jesse    120 

Phillips.   B.   D 7-52-58-130-1-3 

Picket,  Col 109 

Pinkerton    56 

I'l.ix  inondin.    Henry    30 

Point,    Father    37 


Page. 

Point,   Priest's 38 

Potts,   Gov 65-7 

Potter,  Capt 33 

Power,   T.    C 28-102-3 

Price,  Ed 28 

Price,   Kid  124-5 

Quantrell   90 

Rainbolt  Bros 28 

Randall,  Steve  37 

Rash,  Harry 32 

Rawn,   Capt 64-6-7 

Ray.    Thos 99 

Raymond   23 

Reavis,   Old   Man 24 

Reed,  Bill  31 

Reed,  Chub  52 

Reed    92-4 

Reservation    Open    25 

Resor.    A.    H 27-8 

Rhoades,  Jay 31-52 

Richardson    112 

Rideout    27 

Riel,   Louis  29 

Roberts,   I.   N 43 

Robertson,    John    64 

Roberts,  Ben 120 

Rodgers.  Allen  43 

Rosenbaum  Bros 53 

Russell,    C.    M 22-52-119-122-3-4-5 

Russell,  Tom  87 

Russell.    Mrs.    C.    M 121 

Saddler.    Jack    31 

Sands.    W.    R 31 

Sands,   W.  B 28-130 

Sanders.  Col 134 

Saver.     Frank     50 

Scott,   Lee   32 

Seiben,   Henry  49 

SHiultz  ' 31 

Shambow,   Louie   21-42-73-70 

Shankland,  Sam  106 

Shelby.  Nigger  ■". ! 

Short,    Miss   A.    L 130 

Shultz.    Al    104  II 

Sinclair 121 

Sitting  Bull  ...  78-96-106 

Skillen.    Billy    32-34-35-117 

Smith.  John  R 40 

Smith,  Chas.   A 20-32-35-141 

Smith.   Frank   100 

Smith.   Billy  92  01 

Snell.    James    II 112 

Snyder.    Captain  76-7-111 

Solomon,  Mose  04 

Spencer."  Dr.    W.    B....  12 

Sprinkle  Bros.  58 

Stam    ..  28 

Stadler  &   Kaufman 53 


152 


INDEX 


Page. 

Stevens,  Judge  28-67 

Story,    Xels   106-7 

Stringfellow,    Rev 43 

Stuart,  Bob  52-123 

iStnart,  Granville  15-50 

Sullivan,    Sarah    80 

Sweeney   96 

Tabor,  Steve  92-4 

Talcum  Powder  12 

Taylor.    L.    B 49-51-130 

Terry.  General  108 

Thompson,  Rev.  Peter 41 

Thomas,  John   91-2-4 

Thompson,  John  123 

Thornhill,   Jim   117-119 

Titus,   N.  C 77 

Toomey,  Joe  58 

Treacy,  Dr 53-56-7 

Trimble    123 

Turner.    Henry    142 

Twete.  Hans  139 


Page. 
Umstet  39 

Waite,  Jack   119 

Wells,   Jim   24-82-92-100 

White    Bird    97 

Whitehead,    J.    S 28 

Whitson,  Bert  99 

Wild  Bill  103 

Williams,    Charlie    49-101-121 

Williams.   Bill    82 

Williams.  Dr 20 

Willson,   "Two   Dot" .",1 

Winters    116-8 

Wise,    Mrs.    J.    A 29 

Woodruth,    Lieut 61-72 

Woolridge,    W.    N 28 

Woolsey,   Eph 9 

Wye.    Joe    91 

Wynkoop  27 

"Yellowstone  Kelley" 73-5 

Ziebarth   2-28 


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